Lightning the V8 Supercar
by CarsWorldFan
Summary: Sequel to Lightning and the V8 Supercars. It is 2016, and Lightning is now into the second year of his 2 year contract with Redbulldozer Racing Australia. Things are looking up for him now that he is racing in the Championship Series, and he and Sally are expecting their first baby. But in racing, nothing is guaranteed. Will Lightning be able to keep up with his on-track rivals?
1. Chapter 1 - Operation Lightning

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 1 – Operation Lightning

 **Wesley Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland – Saturday, 9 January 2016.**

"Lightning?" a gentle, feminine voice called. It penetrated through the heavy fog of sleep that surrounded Lightning. However, since it wasn't Sally's voice, Lightning decided to ignore it.

Someone shook him gently. "Come on, sleepy. Wake up."

A low groan escaped around the tube stuck down Lightning's throat. Reluctantly, he opened his heavy eyelids a slit, only to be blinded by a fierce white light. He quickly closed his eyes again.

"I've just had a response from him, doctor," the feminine voice said. "Do you think we should remove the tube now?"

Lightning never heard the doctor's reply. He'd already drifted back into a very deep sleep.

…

"Stickers?" Sally called gently. "Stickers, can you hear me? Please, wake up."

Lightning groaned heavily. He just wished everyone would leave him alone and let him sleep. He'd felt so warm and comfortable until Sally had disturbed him. He shifted around for a moment while he tried to settle back down to sleep, but then he realised that the awful tube had been removed from his throat. He yawned widely.

Sally chuckled. "That was cute. I wish I could've seen you do that as a baby. You look so sweet and innocent whenever you're asleep."

"Huh?" Lightning grunted. He slowly blinked open his eyes again. This time, the light didn't hurt his eyes quite as much, so he opened them fully.

Sally was parked directly in front of him; a foggy halo surrounded her. The halo was caused by the effects of the anaesthetic and the lights in the room, but Lightning was still too heavily drugged to be aware of that fact.

"Wow! You look gorgeous, baby," he whispered.

Sally blushed profusely. It was easy to see the blush against her pale blue paintwork. "Well, I'm glad to see that your new fuel tank hasn't ruined your sense of humour."

For a moment, Lightning was confused by that statement. But then, everything came back to him. He'd just had surgery to replace his old fuel tank with a new and much larger one, so that he could race in the V8 Supercars Championship Series that year. Glancing around, he saw that he was back in his nice, private, hospital room, although now he was connected up to a drip, which was secured to an oil line under his bonnet. Several other monitoring machines were also connected to him in various other places.

A nurse drove into the room. "Ah, I'm glad to see that you're awake at last, Mr McQueen. Thank you, Mrs McQueen, for warning us about the fact that he has stopped breathing during an operation in the past. We were fully prepared for that possibility, but fortunately, we didn't have any problems with your husband during his surgery. It went very smoothly."

"I'm glad," Sally replied, smiling. "He seems to be recovering well now."

"Yes. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave now, Mrs McQueen. Visiting hours are over, and I need to prepare your husband for a few tests that the surgeon wants to perform. We need to make sure that the new fuel cell has settled in with his system."

Sally nodded. Then she planted a big kiss on Lightning's lips. "I have to go now, Stickers. I'll see you again first thing in the morning."

"Take care," Lightning whispered. He was feeling exhausted already.

After Sally had gone, Lightning closed his eyes again. He heard the nurse fiddling with one of the machines, and then he drifted back to sleep.

…

A sharp spasm of pain woke Lightning abruptly in the early hours of the following morning. Instinctively, he lashed out with his rear tyres, catching one of them against the side of his 'bed'. The noise attracted the attention of the night nurse, who came dashing into the room, flicking on the light switch in the process.

"Mr McQueen!" she exclaimed, seeing him lash out again. "Please, settle down at once! You could hurt yourself if you do that again."

"It really hurts!" Lightning said through his gritted teeth. He shuffled backwards, trying in vain to stop the pain coming from his undercarriage.

Realising that Lightning was in some serious pain, the nurse quickly glanced through his medical chart to see when he'd last had any pain medication. Seeing that he was due for some, she hurried to prepare it. Nearly blinded by the pain, Lightning lashed out again.

The nurse spun around to face him. "If you don't stop that at once, I will be forced to restrain you for your own good!"

Lightning tried to rev his engine to show just her how cross he was, but since he had no fuel in his system, owing to his operation, nothing happened. The nurse brought over a large syringe filled with a cloudy white liquid.

"Open up, please," she instructed.

Lightning opened his mouth, and the nurse forced the tip of the syringe all the way to the back of his throat. Before Lightning's gaging reflex kicked in, she managed to squirt all of the painkiller straight down his throat. Once she was sure that Lightning had swallowed all of it, she removed the syringe.

Poor Lightning coughed and spluttered for a moment, but then the pain medication started to kick in and make his drowsy. The nurse watched him closely for a few minutes, hoping that she hadn't accidentally overdosed him. She'd been rather surprised that the dosage of painkiller she was required to give him was higher than for a normal car of his size, but she had to remind herself that he was a race car. She'd never had one in her care before, so she guessed that maybe they needed a bit more painkiller to knock them out.

Finally, she saw Lightning sink slowly down onto his chassis. That was the position cars usually adopted whenever they were in R.E.M. stage sleep. Sighing, the nurse began to take Lightning's vitals. Afterwards, she made some notes on Lightning's chart before leaving him to sleep.

…

Lightning felt a little bit better when he awoke the following morning. Not long after he woke up, his surgeon, a large forklift, arrived, along with Dr Andrews and another forklift, who was his day nurse.

"I must say, you're looking a lot more alert than you were yesterday," the surgeon remarked.

"Well, you were the one who drugged me," Lightning muttered, making everyone chuckle.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better, I suppose. But I feel…bigger."

The surgeon nodded. "That's a normal feeling after the type of surgery you had. Are you feeling hungry at all?"

"No. Should I be?"

The surgeon shook his head. "Everyone responds differently during recovery. However, if you haven't started drinking water by tomorrow morning, I will start to get concerned. You should be able to go back to having fuel and solid food in about a week."

"A week?" Lightning whined in dismay. "But what about my cake on Tuesday?"

"Cake? What cake?" the surgeon asked, confused.

Lightning pouted. "It's my birthday on Tuesday."

"Aww!" the nurse said in empathy. "What a way to spend your birthday, poor thing."

The surgeon smiled slightly. "I'll tell you what? If you're feeling up to it, I'll be happy to let you have some jelly, okay?"

"Okay," Lightning happily agreed. He perked up a little. "With sprinkles and a bit of cream on top? Please?"

Everyone laughed again.

"Don't push your luck, Speedster," Dr Andrews warned.

"You may have the sprinkles, but not the cream," the surgeon said. "The cream could make you sick. In fact, you're not to have any dairy for the next few weeks, is that understood?"

"Yes…"

"Good. Now, going back to your recovery, I have the results of the tests I did on you early last night, and I must say that your new fuel cell has already taken nicely to the rest of your system. That is an excellent sign this early on in your recovery, and…" He paused when he saw Lightning yawn. "Sorry if this is boring you."

"Sorry, doctor," Lightning whispered sleepily. His eyelids slowly closed.

The two doctors glanced at each other. "I think we wore him out," Dr Andrews said.

When they looked back at Lightning, they saw that he'd already fallen asleep again.

…

Lightning was much more alert the next day, and he was feeling rather peckish. However, he wasn't allowed to have anything more than water in the morning, and a little bit of baby oil in the evening.

"This is really embarrassing," Lightning bemoaned to Sally as he sipped on the baby oil.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Sally replied. She winked at him. "I'm just glad to see that you're feeling hungry again."

"Mmm… Have you heard from mum and Craig recently?"

"Yes, I spoke to them this morning before I came here. They're really enjoying their honeymoon in South Australia. Elinor said they visited another winery yesterday, and then they went to a spa together. Craig said that he had a better massage than the ones Doctor Anderson gives, but we're not to tell him that."

Lightning chuckled. "Knowing how tense with nerves we are before a race, I'm surprised Doctor Anderson manages to get us as relaxed as he does."

Lightning's night nurse knocked on the door. "Sorry, Mrs McQueen, but visiting hours are over. I'm afraid I must ask you to leave."

Sally gave Lightning a loving kiss goodnight. "I can't wait to have you home with me again, Stickers."

"Likewise. Drive safely, Sal."

"I will."

Once Sally had gone, the nurse checked to see how much baby oil Lightning had drunk. She recorded the amount on his chart. "I understand that it's your birthday tomorrow?"

"Yes," Lightning replied.

"And you'll be twenty-eight, correct?"

"You wouldn't have known that if my birthday wasn't on that chart," Lightning smirked.

The night nurse quickly put the chart back. "Time for your sedative, Mr McQueen. We're starting to cut down on your painkiller, so the sedative will help you get the sleep you need."

"Considering I've done nothing but sleep over the last few days, you'd think I'd have caught up on all the sleep I've missed over the years, wouldn't you?"

"Very funny. Are all racers as sarcastic as you?"

Lightning shrugged his fenders. "Ow! Okay, that really hurt!"

"Sounds like you're ready for this then," the night nurse said as she held up the syringe filled with sedative. Groaning, Lightning reluctantly took it.

…

Sally was the first to arrive at the hospital to visit Lightning on his birthday. Over the following hour, Leyland, Jamie, Mater, Flo, Sherriff, his grandparents and both aunts also arrived, all bearing gifts and plenty of 'get well soon' wishes.

"Thank you so much, guys!" Lightning said after he'd opened all of the presents. "I really appreciate the effort you've all gone to."

Leyland passed over a card. "I got the whole team to sign this before they went on holidays," he explained. "I'm so sorry I had to schedule your surgery right before your birthday, but I wanted you to have it as soon as possible, so you could have plenty of time to recover from it before the racing season starts again."

"That's okay, Leyland. I know it wasn't an easy decision for you to make. The good news is that I'm recovering very well, and I should be released from here before the end of the weekend."

"How's your appetite been?" his grandmother asked.

"I had some regular oil and a bit of juice for breakfast this morning," Lightning replied, slightly embarrassed. "The surgeon said it'll be a few weeks before I can start having high performance oil again, along with dairy. Hopefully, I'll be able to have a bit of fuel tomorrow. If I can keep everything down, I've been told that they'll fill up my tank for the first time on Thursday morning."

Lightning's grandmother looked rather disgusted. "You shouldn't discuss those things!"

"To be fair, grandma, you did ask the question," Lightning said in defence. Just then, his phone rang. "Excuse me, guys." He answered it. "Hello? Oh, hi mum! How's the honeymoon?"

" _It's been perfectly lovely so far_ ," Elinor replied. " _I've got you on loudspeaker, sweetie, so Craig can talk too._ "

" _Happy birthday, Speedster!_ " Craig cut in.

" _Yes, happy birthday!_ " Elinor echoed.

"Thanks! I'd rather be with you two right now, though. Sampling wines sounds much more enjoyable than being stuck here in hospital."

" _Aww! I know, sweetie, but I'm actually glad you're there, because at least I know where you are, and that you're safe._ "

"Mum!" Lightning whined. "I'm twenty-seven!"

"Uh, twenty-eight, actually," Sally interjected, correcting him.

Lightning shot her such a look! "Mum, I'm twenty-eight now," he said into the phone, correcting his mistake. "I can look after myself perfectly well, you know."

Jamie snorted, also earning himself a cold glare from Lightning.

" _I know you can look after yourself_ ," Elinor continued. " _But as your mother, I still worry about you._ "

Lightning rolled his eyes. "Can you phone me back later this evening, please? I have a lot of visitors at the moment."

" _Okay, sweetie. Have a good day. I love you_."

"Love you too, mum," Lightning muttered, before hanging up his phone. He cringed sheepishly with embarrassment. Then he cleared his throat. "So, uh, Mater? Why don't you tell everyone how you proposed to Holley?"

Now it was Mater's turn to be embarrassed. "Ah, shoot! Now I's is blushin'!"

Everyone laughed until Lightning yelped in agony.

"Are you okay, son?" Sherriff asked with genuine concern.

"Yeah, it just hurts when I laugh," Lightning assured him. He smiled at his best friend. "Go on, Mater. I know you've told me, but I don't think anyone else knows, do they?"

"Lightning, leave him alone," Sally admonished. "If Mater doesn't want to tell us, he doesn't have to."

"Nah, it's okay, Miss Sally," Mater said quietly. "I's jus' asked 'er after a movie, 'n' she said 'yes'."

"And what movie was that?" Lightning prompted, earning a smack on the fender from Sally. "Ow!"

Mater blushed profusely, and he stared down at the floor. "Da Good Dinosaur…" he muttered so softly that not everybody heard him. Those who did chuckled kindly.

"You are a big softie, aren't you, Mater?" Flo said.

Hearing a gentle knock on the door, everyone turned to look as a nurse peeked into the room. "I understand someone is having a birthday today?"

"Yup! He's right here," Sherriff replied.

Grinning, the nurse disappeared, only to return a moment later with a food trolley. On it, was one of the largest cloches Lightning had ever seen!

"I'm sorry you can't have any cake on your special day," the nurse said. "But we couldn't let you go without. Your surgeon said that you wanted jelly for your birthday, so we made this up for you…" And she carefully lifted up the cloche.

Lightning's jaw instantly fell open and his tongue rolled out as he stared at his jelly 'cake' in amazement. It had three layers, each made up of a different colour and flavour of jelly. The bottom layer was red raspberry creaming soda; the middle layer was yellow pineapple, while the top layer was blue mixed berry. And, as promised by his surgeon, the whole thing was covered in coloured sprinkles. Furthermore, on top of the jelly 'cake' was a little figurine of Lightning himself!

"Dad-gum!" Mater exclaimed in awe.

Sally did a double-take of Lightning's expression. "Lightning? Pull your tongue back in!"

Lightning promptly did so. "Wow! Okay, the figurine on top is probably going a bit too far, but I love it!" He smiled at the nurse. "Please, thank everyone who made it up for me. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"You're most welcome," the nurse said, and then she left.

"Okay, everyone!" Sally said. "Before we devour this masterpiece, let's all sing 'Happy Birthday' to our beloved birthday boy."

"Sal…" Lightning muttered bashfully.

Sally ignored him. "On the count of three! One…two…three!"

Everyone immediately began singing. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Lightning. Happy birthday to you!"

"Nows may we dig in?" Mater asked eagerly.

"Yes, we'd better have our share first, before Mr Hungry tries to eat it all," Flo said, glancing pointedly at Lightning, who pouted.

"It's not my fault I had that operation…" he muttered pitifully.

However, even after everyone had taken their share, there was still plenty left for Lightning to enjoy. He did too, only to end up getting his mouth coated in sticky sweetness.

"That was fabulous!" Lightning said once he and everyone else had finished.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Leyland remarked, "Because you won't be getting your tyres anywhere near another dessert like that until Jamie's birthday next month."

Lightning grinned at his teammate. "What kind of cake are you planning?"

"Hmm… How about chocolate mud cake coated in thick gooey chocolate ganache with Krispy Kreme doughnuts on top and around the sides? Oh, and for the main course, pizza and garlic bread?"

Lightning let out a longing sigh. "I don't care what Leyland says now, I'll be there!"

Leyland grunted crossly, but he said nothing more. Since the whole team was on holidays, there was nothing he could do to stop them eating whatever they wanted.

Later, as everyone was preparing to leave, Mater drove closer to Lightning.

"Hey, Lightnin'? We's all headin' back home tomorrow, ands I was wonderin' if ya could send me a copy of yer racin' schedule? Ya sees, me and Holley would pretty-near love ta have ya and Miss Sally there fer it. I's also want ya ta be ma best man. Please?"

Lightning smiled broadly. "I'd be honoured to be your best man, Mater. I can send you the schedule when I get home from here. I hope you can find a suitable date. I'm going to have a very busy year this year."

"Thanks bud. Yous take care, ya hear? I's wanna go tractor tippin' wit ya again whens ya get home!"

Lightning laughed. "We'll definitely do that, Mater! Have a safe trip home."

Grinning blissfully, Mater left the room, following along behind everyone else.

 **Well, there it is! The first chapter of the sequel to Lightning and the V8 Supercars. I'm really looking forward to reading everyone's feedback on this, and I hope everyone enjoys it just as much as my other stories.**

 **If you haven't read Lightning and the V8 Supercars yet, please make sure you do, otherwise you won't be able to follow this story.**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Family Day Goes Wrong

**Disclaimer: All Recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 2 – A Family Day Goes Wrong

 **Craig's Property, Kilcoy, 100kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Sunday, 17 January 2016.**

Lightning smiled as he inhaled a deep breath of fresh air. He was standing on the verandah at Craig's house, staring out over the vast property his step-father owned. He'd only been released from hospital the day before, but he was already feeling so much better. The doctors had been able to fill up his new fuel tank on Thursday without him suffering any adverse side effects, and on Friday he'd eaten a bit of solid food, which pleased everyone, so they'd agreed to release him on the proviso that he didn't race for at least two weeks. There was still a risk that the places where his new fuel tank had been connected could rupture if he drove too fast, but they were happy for him to drive at normal highway speeds.

And so, that morning, he, Sally and Jamie had helped Elinor move in with Craig. Most of her belongings had arrived from America while she and Craig had been on their honeymoon, and since the newly-weds had only arrived back from their honeymoon the day before, they'd decided that today would be a good day to get everything sorted out. At least, that's what Elinor and Sally had decided. Jamie and Craig had planned to have a bit of fun on Craig's purpose-built rally course like they often did, but that activity had been pushed back until after lunch. Lightning was just trying to stay out of everyone's way. On top of all that, Craig's ex-wife, Ms Philips, had left the country that morning for a holiday in France with her new boyfriend, leaving her and Craig's children in Craig's care. Lightning was very fond of his step-brother, Luke, who was twelve, and his step-sister, Cindy, who was ten. However, like most kids their age, they could be rather boisterous at times.

Sally joined Lightning out on the verandah. "Stickers? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course."

Sally nuzzled up against him. "You've been very quiet today, that's all."

"You noticed that, despite Luke and Cindy making all that noise over what game they should play?"

"They're just excited. This is the first time they've met their step-mother properly. And their step-brother. I'm glad everyone's getting along though. It could've been much worse. Now, are you sure you're okay? You're not feeling sick or anything?"

"Sal, I'm fine. I just needed some fresh air, that's all. Please, don't worry about me."

"I'll always worry about you."

They were just about to kiss, when a loud 'crash!' sounded from inside the house, followed by a piercing scream, and then someone started shouting angrily. A moment later, the French windows flew open, and Luke came racing out onto the verandah.

"Luke Alexander Louds!" Craig shouted. "Get your tailpipes back here at once, young man!"

Seeing Lightning and Sally blocking his escape route, Luke skidded to an abrupt stop. Turning quickly, he pressed the button to unlock the glass pool gate, and he darted inside. Craig raced out onto the verandah, obviously looking for his son.

"Where's Luke?" he asked Sally and Lightning.

Before they could reply, a splash sounded. Turning, Craig drove over to the pool.

"Luke! Get out of there at once! You have to clean up that vase you broke!"

"Aww, dad!" Luke whined as he floated in the middle of the pool on a pool noodle. "I didn't mean to break it. Cindy pushed me into that pedestal!"

"Luke! I don't want to have to ask you again! You broke it, so you have to clean it up."

Groaning with reluctance, Luke drove out of the pool, shaking himself dry. "What about Cin… Ow!" Luke yelped when Craig smacked him sharply on his rear bumper.

"Perhaps next time you'll do as you're told without racing off or protesting. Now hurry up and do as you're told. Lunch is almost ready."

Luke obeyed, and Craig followed sternly behind him. Lightning and Sally giggled.

"Just think, we'll be parents soon!" Sally said.

Groaning, Lightning rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for fatherhood. Although, I suppose we could always do what my parents did, and let Gracie raise the baby."

Sally frowned. "I hope you're not being serious?"

Lightning kissed her fender. "Whatever gave you that impression? Come on. I'm hungry."

"Ever since you got your new fuel tank, you make it seem like you're starving!"

"Be fair. I have more to fill now."

Before long, everyone was parked at the table, while Sally and Elinor brought the food out from the kitchen. Cindy stared at Lightning, which earned her a jab in her side from Luke.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"It's rude to stare, sis."

"I just can't believe that our step-brother is THE Lightning McQueen!" Cindy whispered.

"I know, it's pretty cool, isn't it?" Luke whispered back. "I wasn't happy when mum and dad broke up, but now I'm glad they did."

"Do you think we could take him to school for 'show and tell'?"

Luke was shocked "Cindy!"

"What?"

"You can't just take someone along to school like they were a pet rock or something!"

"And how would you know?"

Lightning tried to bite his tongue to keep from laughing out aloud, but it was no good. He burst out laughing and crying all at the same time. Seconds later, Jamie joined in.

"Now, now, kids, settle down," Craig teased, but he was grinning with amusement too.

Elinor exhaled deeply as she set the final bowl of food down on the table. "Dig in, everyone."

She didn't need to repeat the invitation. Once everyone had their food and were contently eating away, Sally decided to try to get to know Luke and Cindy a bit better.

"So, Luke and Cindy, what do you two want to be when you grow up? Do you want to become racers like your dad?"

"No," both kids replied in unison.

Sally was surprised. "Oh? And why not?"

"Mum says it's too dangerous," Luke replied. "She won't even let us watch dad racing on the TV anymore."

"Yeah, and when she does let us go to the races, she takes us to the V.I.P. area where all the adults are, so we can't see anything anyway," Cindy pouted. "I love watching dad race, but I don't want to race myself. I don't want to be famous like him."

"Why not?" Lightning asked.

"Dad hardly ever gets any privacy," Luke continued. "He's always got a camera in his face, and he has to do all those silly TV ads and things."

"Ture, but that's our job," Jamie pointed out.

"But why can't he just race without doing all that extra stuff?" Cindy whined. "Why can't he be like a normal dad who works in an office?"

"How's school going for you, Cindy?" Craig asked.

"Oh, it's okay, I suppose. It gets rather boring though, sometimes…"

"That's how I feel about doing an office job," Craig told her with a wink. Cindy gaped, realising that he'd just outsmarted her.

"So, what do you do for work, stepmother?" Luke asked.

Elinor chuckled. "I think it might be better if you and Cindy call me Elinor. And to answer your question, I work as a nurse."

"Where?" Cindy wondered.

"Well, I did run my late husband's clinic back in America, but I now have a job with the V8s, working alongside Doctor Lee."

"He's the doctor who looks after us on race weekends," Jamie quickly explained.

"I thought that was Doctor Andrews?" Luke said.

"Doctor Andrews is our team doctor," Lightning explained. "But once we're at the track, Doctor Lee is in charge. Doctor Andrews has to report everything to him."

"I think that enough food for you now, Stickers," Sally interjected. "You're still under doctor's orders, remember."

Cindy giggled. "Why did you call him 'Stickers'?"

"Because when we met, he was covered in sponsors' stickers," Sally replied. "That's his nickname now."

"Oohh!"

…

After lunch, and after all of the dishes had been washed and put away, Craig and Jamie headed down to Craig's rally course. Luke and Cindy went with them to watch.

"And, what are you going to do for the afternoon, Stickers?" Sally asked him. "Elinor still has some things to unpack and sort out."

I think I'll go for a swim," Lightning replied. "It's hot enough for it, and I could do with some relaxation for a change."

"Well, don't stay in there for too long, or your tyres will shrivel."

Lightning stuck his tongue out at her. Then, chuckling, he and Sally parted ways. Outside, Lightning drove slowly down the ramp into the pool, so his body could adjust to the cool water. Since he was still feeling rather delicate after his operation, he drifted slowly around in the water. He could easily understand why Craig loved living here. It was just so peaceful and spacious. In fact, it made the mansion he and Sally owned look small in comparison. Taking a deep breath, Lightning bobbed down beneath the water for a moment.

About half an hour later, Lightning was standing quietly on a ledge at the side of the pool, simply enjoying himself, when he heard the sound of an engine rapidly approaching. Seconds later, Cindy raced up onto the verandah, clearly showing that she had Craig's racing genes in her. However, she looked terribly pale.

"Elinor! Elinor!" she shouted. "Somebody! Help! Please!"

Lightning swam closer to her. "Calm down, Cindy. What's going on?"

"Dad's been hurt! He landed badly after a jump, and now he can't get up! He told me to come and fetch Elinor…" And poor little Cindy burst into tears.

"Mum!" Lightning shouted as he drove out of the pool. Elinor and Sally emerged from the house.

"What's all the shouting about?" Elinor asked.

"Dad's been hurt," Cindy sniffled. "He told me to come and get you."

"I'll just get my medical bag," Elinor said. "Stay here, Cindy. I need you to show me where he is."

Minutes later, Elinor had her bag with her, and then she, Lightning and Sally followed Cindy down to the rally course. Luckily, they didn't go at racing pace, so Lightning was able to keep up with them without hurting himself.

Finally, they arrived at the place where Craig was still lying injured, on his chassis in the dirt, on the landing side of a large jump. Jamie and Luke were parked in front of him. Jamie was talking soothingly to his friend, while Luke was crying softly. Elinor drove in between them so she could face Craig.

"Okay, first of all, where does it hurt?" she asked in her professional tone.

"My front right axle," Craig replied weakly. "I don't know how it happened, exactly. I took the jump the same way I usually do, and I guess I must have landed awkwardly."

While Craig was speaking, Elinor gently moved his front left axle, just to ensure that one hadn't been injured either. Then she turned her attention to his front right axle.

"Let me know when it hurts…" she said as she gently began moving it.

"Ow!" Craig yelped. Then he winced sharply in agony.

"Jamie, can you phone for an ambulance, please? From my experience, I think it's just a hairline fracture, but I don't want to take any chances moving him if it's more than just that."

Nodding, Jamie made the call. While he spoke to the emergency service call-taker, Elinor set about making sure Craig was comfortable.

"…Yes, there's a qualified nurse looking after him already," Jamie said into his phone. He glanced up at Elinor. "Would you like to talk to them?"

"Put them on loudspeaker,' Elinor instructed.

Once Jamie had done so, Elinor began telling the emergency service call-taker what she'd done to help Craig.

"The only thing I haven't been able to do yet is splint the axle. I don't want to give him any painkillers, just in case he needs surgery."

"That's fine," the call-taker replied. "How are his vitals?"

"Breathing rate is slightly elevated, but RPMs are normal."

"Good. The ambulance and a paramedic will be with you shortly."

"I'll go up to the house to direct them down here," Sally offered. Elinor nodded her approval.

Not long afterwards, the ambulance and paramedic arrived, so Jamie hung up his phone. After assessing Craig's condition, the paramedic gave Craig a mild painkiller, and then she and Elinor managed to secure Craig's injured axle with a heavy support brace.

"We'll take him to Kilcoy hospital," the ambulance said as Craig was carefully loaded inside him.

"I'm coming with you," Elinor told them firmly.

"Do you want us to call Leyland," Jamie asked Craig.

"Yes, and Doctor Andrews too."

"We'll do that," Jamie promised.

"What do you want us to do with Luke and Cindy?" Sally asked Craig in a low voice. She didn't want them to overhear her.

"I think it would be best if they go to my parent's place at Caloundra for the time being," Craig replied. "I'm supposed to be looking after them until the end of the month, but now…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure everyone will understand," Sally assured him. "We'll take good care of them, I promise."

Craig smiled slightly. "Thanks Sally. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

The paramedic closed the ambulance doors, and the convoy set off. Lightning looked down at Luke and Cindy, who had clung to his sides ever since he'd arrived at the rally course.

"Dad's not going to die, is he?" Cindy asked him fearfully.

"No, of course he isn't going to die!" Lightning replied. "He's only broken his axle. That kind of injury happens all the time to cars. He'll be fine, you'll see."

But Lightning sounded more confident than he felt. The first race of the year was only seven weeks away, and he knew from experience that broken axles usually took about eight weeks to heal. He was worried that Craig wouldn't be ready to race in time. And, even if his injury did heal, he wouldn't be fit enough to race in the gruelling Adelaide 500.

Lightning gently patted his step-brother and step-sister on their roofs. "Let's go pack up your belongings, so we can take you to your grandparents place."

"Okay," Cindy sadly agreed, while Luke just nodded. Lightning couldn't miss the disappointment in Cindy's voice. Lightning couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Clearly, they loved their father dearly and they were very worried about him. But they weren't the only ones who were worried about Craig.

 **Thank you to those of you who reviewed the first chapter of this sequel! I must admit I was a bit worried about how that first chapter would be received, but that's where I wanted this sequel to begin, so I'm glad you've all enjoyed it so much. Please, don't forget to review this chapter as well. They do mean a lot to me.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Craig's Diagnosis

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 3 – Craig's Diagnosis

 **Kilcoy Hospital, 100kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Sunday, 17 January 2016.**

A few hours later, in the late afternoon, Lightning and Sally arrived at the Kilcoy Hospital after dropping Craig's children, Luke and Cindy, off at their grandparents' place. Jamie had gone on ahead of them, after locking up Craig's house and informing the farmhands about what had happened.

Lightning paused at the hospital entrance, so he could glance around at the sky. "I think there's a storm coming," he remarked.

"I'm sure we'll get home before it hits," Sally tried to reassure him. She knew that Lightning was absolutely terrified of storms, despite his name.

Inside the hospital, Lightning and Sally drove over to the reception desk.

"We're here to see Craig Louds," Lightning told the female receptionist.

"Are you friends or family?" the receptionist asked without looking up.

"Family."

The receptionist finally looked up with an expression which said that she didn't believe him. "What's your relationship to him?"

"He's my step-father, if you must know."

"Name?"

"Lightning and Sally McQueen."

"Excuse me a minute."

The receptionist returned a moment later, after making a phone call. "I'm sorry about that. With Mr Louds' celebrity status, we need to be cautious. He's still in emergency, but he is expecting you. If you'd like to follow me, I can take you there."

"Thank you," Sally replied.

The receptionist escorted Lightning and Sally into an examination room. Craig was perched halfway up on a hydraulic lift in the middle of the room, surrounded by Elinor, Jamie and Leyland.

"Hi Leyland," Lightning greeted him. "When did you get here?"

"About ten minutes ago," Leyland replied. He looked rather tired and stressed. "I had to leave a meeting with one of our sponsors." He exhaled deeply. "Well, I guess the three of us make a fine trio! Me with my yachting injury, you recovering from your surgery, and now Craig…"

"Well, you know what they say," Jamie said. "Third time lucky."

Jamie was very lucky he was on the other side of the room from Leyland! The team boss shot Jamie such a glare that it made him cringe sheepishly. Lightning sniggered.

"You're driving on very thin ice with me, Jamie," Leyland muttered. "So just watch it."

Jamie gulped. Clearly, Leyland still hadn't forgiven him for messing up at the Bathurst 1000 two years in a row.

Sally sighed before turning her attention to Craig. "Your children are safe with your parents. They want you to phone them as soon as you can."

Craig winced. "Thanks for reminding me. Somehow, I always seem to forget to tell my parents whenever I have an accident…"

At that moment, a doctor entered the room, followed by Dr Andrews. The other doctor slipped a couple of x-ray films against a backlight.

"Okay, Craig. Let's see what damage you've done to yourself…"

Craig sighed tiredly. The other doctor turned on the light, and then he and Dr Andrews began to study the x-rays closely. They muttered quietly together for a moment, before they turned to face everyone.

"Well, Craig," Dr Andrews began. "I'm afraid you have done a hairline fracture. If we let it heal naturally, it'll take at least eight weeks."

Craig groaned in disbelief. "I suppose I'd better try and find a replacement for the Bathurst twelve hour next month… And I'll miss the Adelaide 500…"

"That's enough, Craig," the other doctor ordered. "Yes, you will miss out on racing in the Bathurst twelve-hour, but there is a way we can get you back racing sooner."

Craig immediately perked up a little. "I'm listening."

Dr Andrews placed a file down on a nearby bench. "Do you remember your big accident back in 1999?"

Craig scoffed. "I'll never forget that!"

"What happened?" Lightning asked with curiosity.

"It happened during my fifth year in the V8 Supercars. We were racing at Calder Park, a racetrack that is no longer used in the V8 Supercars. Ironically, it also has an oval track that was used by the short-lived AUSCAR series. Maybe I should take you there one day to show it to you. I'm sure you'd love it. Anyway, I was in pole position, and I was also ahead in the Championship points. I had a bad start, owing to a momentary lapse in concentration, and as a result, I got caught up in the scuffle going on behind me. Someone accidentally clipped me, and the force sent me rolling over onto my roof. I skidded along the tarmac on my roof at about two-hundred kilometres an hour. Finally, as I left the tarmac, I hit the edge of a safety barrier, which sent me spinning up into the air. I don't know how many times I rolled, but I finally ended up landing on top of a concrete wall."

"Whoa!" Lightning whispered, shocked.

Craig smiled slightly. "It was very similar, if not worse, than Chaz's accident last year. What surprised me most was that some of the other racers stopped to come and make sure I was okay. Everyone was amazed that I escaped that crash with nothing more than a severe concussion, and a badly twisted front left axle. I had countless cuts and bruises, but my left axle was the worst injury. This was well before the days of Triple Eight Race Engineering and each team being required to have their own doctor, so I had to try and find a specialist who could help me recover. The doctor I found was fantastic, and after a short operation, I recovered so quickly that I only ended up missing one round of racing, and miraculously, I still managed to win the Championship that year. My axle hasn't bothered me since."

"And that is exactly what we're thinking of doing," Dr Andrews said.

"What?"

Dr Andrews positioned himself directly in front of Craig. "We can operate, and insert a titanium rod inside your axle to help strengthen it while it heals. If we do that, your healing time could be reduced by as much as half."

Craig's eyes widened in amazement. "Are you serious?"

Dr Andrews nodded. "But we'd have to operate tomorrow morning before it has a chance to start healing."

"Do it," Craig agreed. "I don't mind missing the Bathurst twelve hour, since it's just a bit of fun, but I don't think I could stand missing the start of the season. It would be hard to bounce back after missing that."

Leyland chuckled. "I hope you never lose your competitiveness, Craig. You're far from retiring with that attitude."

"And, as I never cease to remind you, Leyland, I will only retire when I stop being competitive."

A rumble of thunder sounded overhead, making Lightning cringe. "Sal, I think we should start heading home now."

"Yes, you're probably right," Sally agreed. "When can we visit Craig again?"

"He'll only need to stay here tomorrow," the other doctor explained. "He should be able to go home on Tuesday in an ambulance, providing he doesn't move around too much for a week or two. After that, his axle should be strong enough for him to drive around normally."

"And when can he go back into training?' Leyland wondered.

"Realistically, in about a month, but it'll all depend on how much, or how little, he moves over the next week."

Leyland nodded. "I can live with that. Please, keep me informed."

"We will," Dr Andrews promised.

Leyland turned to Lightning and Sally. "Mind if I join you on your drive?"

"Not at all," Sally replied.

"And me?" Jamie asked hopefully.

Smiling, Lightning gave his teammate a friendly shove towards the door. "Come on, JDub. I'll see you again soon, Craig. Get well quickly."

"Thanks, Speedster," Craig replied, smiling slightly. He was already feeling a little bit better now that he knew there was still hope that he'd be fit to race in the Adelaide 500.

Dr Andrews smiled when he saw the optimistic change in Craig. That was an excellent sign, because as long as Craig felt confident about his recovery, the better and faster he'd heal.

…

Even though Lightning, Sally, Leyland and Jamie hurried, they'd only just made it onto the highway when the heavens opened. Lightning whimpered. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd driven in the rain, let alone a storm. They could see the menacing grey clouds rolling in from the north-west, and they were heading south-east fast – exactly the same direction they were heading. Lightning jumped when a flash of lightning lit up the sky. Behind him, Jamie snickered.

"Don't tell me that you're afraid of lightning, Lightning?" he asked.

"Believe it or not, yes!" Lightning snapped.

"Leave him alone, Jamie," Leyland ordered. "Or I might tell him what you're afraid of."

Although the four of them got very wet, they all made it to their respective homes safely. Jamie ended up getting stuck in a huge traffic jam on his way down to the Gold Coast, and since he got home very late, he grabbed a take-away dinner for himself. Leyland, being more sophisticated than Jamie, had dinner with a couple of friends at a fancy restaurant in the city.

Meanwhile, Lightning and Sally arrived home to find that their housekeeper, Gracie, and their butler, Mr Hood, had prepared a lovely candlelit dinner for them. They hadn't intended for it to be candlelit, but since the house had lost power owing to the fierce storm, there was no other option.

Later, Lightning collapsed onto the mat he and Sally shared as their bed. "I'm beat! I think I'll sleep for a week!"

"And you deserve to," Sally replied, snuggling up beside him. "You've been through enough this week. When do you go back into full-time training?"

"Start of next month," Lightning replied. Then he yawned. "I'm going to be getting a repaint too. Hope I can keep most of my red paint, like I did last year."

"Don't count on it. I'm sure Leyland will want the four of you to look exactly the same, except for your names and numbers."

"Maybe… Can we go to sleep now, please?"

"Of course, Stickers. Goodnight."

Lightning didn't reply. He was already fast asleep. Sally sighed. Even though she was also very tired, she wouldn't have minded having a few passionate kisses with Lightning before he fell asleep.

 _Be fair, Sally_ , she scolded herself. _He only came out of hospital yesterday, and he has had a very long, emotional and exciting day. It's little wonder he fell asleep as quickly as he did_. _You can save the fun for tomorrow night and make it doubly special for the both of you to make up._

With that blissful thought in mind, Sally settled down to sleep.

 **Thank you for the encouraging reviews! I hope you all enjoy this chapter too. Won't be long now until I've caught up on current events...**


	4. Chapter 4 - Season Preparations

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 4 – Season Preparations

 **Triple Eight Race Engineering Headquarters, Banyo, 13kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Monday, 1 February 2016.**

Lightning smiled happily as he drove into the driveway of the now-familiar team headquarters. The holidays were now officially over for the team, and everyone was heading back to work today. Upon entering the building, Lightning was delighted to see that the place was already a hive of activity.

"Lightning, Leyland wants to see you in his office straight away," Susan, the receptionist informed him.

'Figures," Lightning muttered. "Tell him I'm on my way."

Lightning drove up the ramp that led to the upstairs offices. He knocked softly on the door of Leyland's office with his tyre.

"Come in!" Leyland called, and Lightning did so.

Jamie and Shane van Gearsbergen, their new teammate, were already inside the office with Leyland.

"Morning, Lightning," Leyland greeted him. "Craig should be here shortly, but we may as well make a start."

"How is Craig recovering?" Jamie asked Lightning.

"He's going great! I saw him on Saturday, when he and mum came down to my place for lunch, and he was really keen to come back to work today. He's driving around okay now, so he should be ready for our test day."

Leyland cleared his throat. "I think we'll let Doctor Andrews make that decision. Now, first of all, we've made some changes to the training room. Each of you now have your own rolling road to train on, and we've added some screens at eye level, so you can watch TV while you train."

"Awesome!" Jamie said enthusiastically.

"You'll probably have also noticed that we now have two transporters," Leyland continued. "After the fiascos we had last year, we decided that Jamie and Shane will share a transporter, and Lightning and Craig will share the other one. That will also mean that we have more storage room for spare parts and things."

"Good idea," Shane said.

Leyland smiled. "CAMS has also issued a new directive this year, which stipulates that your number and name stickers no longer have to be a specified font. However, we've decided to maintain the original font, since it's easy to read from a distance. And since the four of you will have identical paint jobs this year, being able to identify you at a distance will be vital. Craig will maintain his number 888; Lightning you will also keep your number 95, and Shane has decided that he'd like to keep his number 97, for sentimental reasons. Jamie? I'm afraid that, since you've now lost your number one, you're going to have to go back to your original number 88."

"Why can't I keep my Development Series paintwork?" Lightning blurted out.

"Because this new paint scheme has been approved by our sponsors, and it's taken me the entire holiday period to get them all to agree to it. They weren't too concerned about your Development Series paintwork, but now that you're in the Championship Series, you need to comply with what's required of you."

Lightning exhaled deeply in defeat. "Okay, I understand."

"Good. You'll all be repainted today."

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" Leyland called.

Craig entered the room. He was limping slightly, but he looked cheerful and delighted to be back. "Morning everyone! Sorry I'm a bit late."

"Morning," Leyland replied. "And that's okay. I'm just glad you were able to make it here safely. I was just telling the others that you'll all be getting repainted in this year's colour scheme."

"Great!" Craig said enthusiastically. "I saw some early mock-ups of it, so I can't wait to see the final result."

Leyland turned his laptop around so they could all see the final paintwork design. It had a very dark navy base with a strip of blue fading into the navy behind the Redbulldozer logo on the door panels. The spoilers were the same shade of blue as the strip, while the bottom skirting on the cars was red. The minor sponsors' stickers were placed in such a way that they didn't detract from the base paintwork and Redbulldozer logos.

"Nice!" Jamie grinned.

Lightning still wasn't convinced. "I've always been red. I was built that colour. I don't think anyone would recognise me in navy blue."

"Oh, I won't worry about that," Shane mumbled. "Everyone will know that it's you."

"What?"

"Now, guys," Craig tried to interject, but Lightning ignored him. He turned on Shane.

"Say that to my face!"

"It wasn't meant to be insulting!" Shane exclaimed. "I simply meant that with you being American and all…"

Lightning revved his engine aggressively. Leyland slammed a ruler down on his desk.

"Lightning McQueen! Settle down at once! And Shane? Keep your comments to yourself in future. You're the new boy on the block, so it's going to take you a while for you to settle in, and I don't want you upsetting my other racers."

Lightning seethed quietly until Craig nudged his rear fender.

"Stop it!" Craig hissed under his breath.

Leyland drew in a deep breath and he looked sternly at the four racers in front of him. "I know it isn't going to be easy having the four of you racing together this year, especially since you're all so competitive, but just remember that we're still a team, even though on the track you're all rivals. Now, Craig? I think it'd be best if you get repainted first, while the others train. You may go home after that, if you like."

"Thanks Leyland," Craig said appreciatively.

"Well, what are you three waiting around here for?" Leyland asked the others. "Your crew chiefs are waiting for you in the training room. Oh, and guys? I hope we can make this year the best year we've ever had, but that will only happen if we work well together as a team. I'm counting on all of you to do your very best this year."

"We will, Leyland," Jamie promised.

Lightning, Jamie and Shane made their way down the hallway to the training room, where Dutto, Tony, Davo and Grant were waiting for them. Grant was now Shane's crew chief, since he hadn't gotten along very well with Craig, so Craig new crew chief was a French forklift named Ludo. Ludo had been with the team since the beginning, so he and Craig already knew each other well.

"Right, you three," Dutto said. "I'm afraid I have some bad news for you." He paused for dramatic effect. "Your holidays are now officially over, and it's time to get back to work. We'll go easy on you today though. I just want to make an assessment of your general health and fitness, so jump onto your rolling roads. I want you all to do a hundred kilometres at a hundred and fifty kilometres an hour. Think you can manage that?"

"Pfft! Child's play!" Jamie scoffed.

"We'll see about that," Dutto smirked. "What are you all waiting for? Let's get started!"

Lightning, Jamie and Shane drove onto their respective rolling roads. Lightning watched as Tony gently secured his front wheels to the rolling road. Tony then placed a few sensors in various places around Lightning's engine bay. Lightning noticed that Davo and Grant weren't doing that to Jamie and Shane.

"Before you ask, I'm doing this so I can get some extra data from you," Tony whispered. "There are some things that your on-board computer can't tell me, and I need to monitor that data in current time."

"It's okay," Lightning replied softly. "I know you know what you're doing."

Once Tony was at his computer, he gave Lightning the signal to start. It took Lightning, Jamie and Shane less than an hour to complete the exercise, but that was enough for the crew chiefs to compile all the data they needed. Tony removed the sensors and he released Lightning from the rolling road.

"Come with me, please," he said.

Lightning followed Tony down the hallway to his office. Tony parked behind his desk, while Lightning closed the door.

"Thanks," Tony said. "You'll understand that there are some things that I don't want the others to hear. You see, they all think that you're the underdog because you've never raced in the Championship Series before, and I really want to surprise them with you."

"Sounds like fun," Lightning grinned.

"I knew you'd be keen. Now, I want to run through what I'm expecting to see from you this year. You're now racing in the toughest racing competition in the world, but you wouldn't be here if you weren't good enough. I've seen what you can do with the right guidance, but you do need a crew chief who will push you to your limits and beyond. That's why Leyland appointed me as your crew chief this year. He knows I can push you, and push you hard. I know Craig, Jamie and Shane are your teammates, but they are also your rivals now. Yes, I still want you to be friends with them, and naturally Craig will want to keep mentoring you, but out on the track, you are to treat them all as rivals."

"I understand. And I'm good at doing that."

"Good. My aim for you this year is to get you into the top ten in the Championship. That's it. Leyland and I both agree that that is a very realistic goal for you."

Lightning nodded. Tony turned his attention to his computer screens. He brought up a telemetry graph.

"Right, now let's go through the data we just collected. This chart shows the amount of horsepower your engine is producing. The red line is you; the green line is Shane and the blue line is Jamie. As you can see, you and Shane are pretty much the same, while Jamie is slightly above you two. What we need to do is to try and find an extra ten horsepower to get you on par with Jamie. I know that doesn't sound like much, but-"

"In racing it makes all the difference," Lightning finished. "Tony, you're preaching to the converted here."

Tony chuckled. "Sorry. I'm used to working with rookies."

"Perhaps you can tell me where I can find that extra horsepower?"

Tony drew in a long breath while he thought. "I was planning to focus on your endurance for the next few weeks. It's obvious that you can handle sprint races easily, so we really need to get your stamina back up to where it was when you were racing in the Piston Cup. I've noticed that you do tend to get bored easily, so I was wondering if you might be interested in going on some very long drives with me."

"Where to?"

"Up to Noosa Heads on the Sunshine Coast, back down to Tweed Heads on the Gold Coast and then back here. That's a total distance of four-hundred and eighty-eight kilometres. I'd love to see you doing that at least twice a day before we go to Adelaide."

Lightning's jaw hit the ground in disbelief. He didn't know what to say about that!

Tony continued. "I've checked with CAMS, and they said that as long as you stick to the speed limit, there's no reason why you can't train on the highways. I'm surprised no other team has thought of doing it. I've spoken to Leyland about it, and he's happy for you to do it, but please keep this to yourself. I haven't even told Dutto about it yet, but I have a feeling I'll have to tell him before too long."

Just then, the phone rang.

"Tony speaking," Tony said as he answered it. "Okay, I'll send him there now." He hung up the phone. "You're wanted downstairs for your repaint."

"Great," Lightning huffed. "When I come back, I'm gonna be blue."

"Navy to be exact," Tony said as Lightning left the office.

Downstairs, Lightning reluctantly entered the paint room, where the two painters were waiting for him.

"Do I really have to do this?" Lightning whined.

"Yes, you do," one of them replied. "We'll just remove your spoiler, and then we'll get to work."

Once Lightning's spoiler had been removed, he took one last glance in the mirror at his red paintwork. Then, he reluctantly drove inside the paint booth.

"Close your eyes, and keep your mouth shut," the other painter instructed. "We're going to sandblast all the old paint off you first."

Lightning winced. However, the sandblasting wasn't as bad as it sounded. It was actually quite relaxing. The sandblasting removed all of the old layers of paint Lightning had had over the years, including all his old Piston Cup paintwork that had simply been covered over. Lightning realised that they'd decided to remove all the old paint to help save a bit of weight. In fact, he did feel a bit lighter afterwards, once he was down to his original basic red paint. That would never be able to be removed, since it was the actual colour of his body.

When they were satisfied that all of the old paint had been removed, the painters got to work applying his new paintwork. They applied the navy basecoat all over his body. Then, fans were used to dry his paint.

Once the basecoat had dried, Lightning left the paint booth. The painters set to work carefully applying all the decals and stickers to his body. There were over eighty in total, so it took a long time. After that, Lightning was sprayed all over with a finishing sealant, which when dry was polished until it sparkled.

Finally, Lightning's new paintwork was finished. He drove over to the large mirror to take a closer look at himself.

"Well, what do you think?" one of the painters asked him.

"You've both done a great job, thank you," Lightning replied politely. "It's going to take me a long time to get used to it though." He turned to the side slightly, so he could see his name and number on his window panel. The yellow coloured stickers were a large '95' and beneath it in a smaller font the white coloured stickers spelled out 'McQueen'. They were the same on the other side.

Glancing at the clock, Lightning saw that it was time for lunch. Leaving the paint room, he drove down the hallway and past the main entrance to get to the cafeteria. Craig and Jamie were already eating at a table, while Shane was getting served some food. Lightning joined the queue behind Dutto.

Dutto grinned when he saw Lightning's new paintwork. "I knew that paint scheme would look fantastic on all of you."

"Really? Because I feel really weird in it," Lightning replied. "Now I understand how women feel whenever they get painted in the wrong colour to what they were wanting."

Dutto chuckled. "You'll get used to it soon, I'm sure."

Once Lightning had collected his lunch, he joined Craig and Jamie at their table. Shane was parked all by himself in a back corner.

"If I ever see another telemetry sheet again it'll be too soon," Jamie remarked as soon as Lightning joined them. Lightning chuckled.

"Yeah, I feel the same way. What have you been up to this morning, Craig?"

"Well, after my repaint, Doctor Andrews examined my axle. He's really impressed by just how fast it's healing. I'll be seeing my surgeon again next week, and I'm hoping he'll say that I can take the brace off. Doctor Andrews is working on a brace for Adelaide, so I can have something to support my axle if I need it."

"That's good. Jamie, your birthday is this Saturday, right?"

Jamie nodded while he swallowed a mouthful of food. "Yeah, and you're both invited, along with your wives. Please, don't bring your kids this time, Craig. I want to watch an adult movie, and we won't be able to if you do."

Craig smirked. "Mind if I bring my third kid along?"

Lightning gave Craig a friendly kick with his tyre. Someone cleared their throat behind them. Turning, they saw Leyland with his tray of food.

"Did you want to join us, Leyland?" Craig asked.

"No, I just wanted to know why Shane isn't sitting with you."

"He decided to sit by himself," Jamie replied. "He can join us if he wants. We won't stop him."

"Why not?" Lightning teased, earning himself a kick in the side from Craig. "Ow! Mate, even with a busted axle, you can still pack a punch!"

"You're just soft," Craig said.

Lightning growled his engine crossly. "We'll see who's the softest in Adelaide…"

Leyland exhaled deeply. "Listen, you three. I want you to include Shane in you activities and conversations. I know it's not easy for you to do that, but he is a part of the team now, and I want him to feel included."

Leyland drove over to Shane without waiting for the others to reply. He returned a few seconds later with Shane.

"Move over, Jamie, and make some room for Shane. There you go. Now, hurry up and finish your lunches. Dutto has some more training planned for you later this arvo."

Lightning and Jamie groaned in unison. After Leyland had gone to have his lunch at another table, the four racers fell silent. Finally, Craig broke the silence.

"So, Shane, I understand that you're racing in the Bathurst twelve hour?"

"Yes… It's a shame you won't be there too."

"Yeah… I was really looking forward to it."

Tony drove over to the table. "Lightning? I want to see you back in my office in five minutes."

"But I've still got all this to go!" Lightning protested, indicating to his lunch.

"Then stop chatting and finish it!"

"Nice crew chief you've got there," Shane muttered after Tony had gone. "Rather you than me though. I hate taking orders. But, I suppose you need someone like that as your crew chief to help you, since we all know that you're only in the Championship Series as a marketing gimmick."

Lightning immediately snapped. "Shut up, Shane! You have no idea what you're talking about!"

Shane smirked. "I think I do, since you're obviously so sensitive about it."

Infuriated, Lightning was just about to charge at Shane in order to physically fight with him, when he realised that everyone, including Leyland, was watching the scene. Obviously, they were all expecting to see a fight. Gritting his teeth, Lightning turned and he started to leave the cafeteria, but then he paused and he turned back around.

"You'll be eating those words out on the racetrack, Shane, along with my dust!" he shouted so loudly that the whole building heard him. "You might be a part of this team, but you will NEVER be a part of the Triple Eight Race Engineering family unless you curb your cocky attitude!"

And with that, Lightning continued on towards Tony's office, seething crossly the whole way. He was more determined than ever to prove that he belonged in the V8 Supercars.


	5. Chapter 5 - Jamie's Birthday

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 5 – Jamie's Birthday

 **Jamie's apartment, Surfers Paradise, 78kms south of Brisbane, Queensland – Saturday, 6 February 2016.**

It was early in the evening when Jamie's birthday party got underway. Nearly all of the Redbulldozer racing team were there to celebrate, along with Jamie's parents and a few of his friends from outside of the racing world. Lightning and Sally were chatting with Craig and Elinor, while everyone else arrived in dribs and drabs.

"So, how is married life treating you two," Sally asked them.

"It couldn't be better," Elinor replied happily. She nuzzled up against Craig's fender. "We're very happy together."

"I'm glad," Sally smiled. "You two deserve to be happy."

"Pizza's here!" Jamie announced. "Don't worry, I've got some salad too for those of us who would prefer something healthy."

Lightning decided to grab a bit of both, as a compromise. After he'd eaten, he went outside onto the balcony for some fresh air, and to escape the noisy chatter inside. Some of Jamie's guests, including Leyland and Dutto, were parked around the swimming pool, enjoying the sunset.

After a moment, Lightning sensed that someone was watching him. Turning, he saw Shane parked in the doorway, glaring at him.

"You got a problem, mate?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah. And I'm looking at it."

Lightning drew in a deep breath to try and control his rising anger. Shane drove closer to him.

"If there's one thing I can't stand, it's racers like you. If you were an Australian, or even a New Zealand racer like me, it wouldn't be so bad, but nobody likes someone who comes in from overseas, is given all the advantages and then wins everything."

Lightning snorted. "So, that's your problem! You don't like me because I'm American? And you feel threatened because I'm not only the Development Series Champion, but I'm also a dual Bathurst 1000 winner, is that it? Not to mention all the Piston Cups I've won! What was the last Championship you won? Hmm? I'm guessing that you're just jealous of me because you're the only racer in the team who hasn't won anything more than a couple of races in his career."

Lightning had barely finished speaking when he felt something solid ram him hard in his front right hand fender. The force spun him around violently and, losing his balance, he slipped over the edge of the pool and he fell into the water with a large 'splash!' For a few seconds, he was disorientated, but then he surfaced, gasping for air. He swam slowly over to the ramp, so he could get out of the pool.

"Shane van Gearsbergen!" Leyland shouted furiously. "I saw that! Get over here right now! I want a word with you."

Dutto drove over to where Lightning was dragging himself out of the pool. Lightning was coughing and spluttering. "Are you okay?"

"Just winded," Lightning whispered. Seething, he shook himself dry. "Right, where is he?"

Dutto quickly blocked his path. "No, Lightning. Just leave it. Leyland will deal with Shane."

Lightning shook his front in disbelief. "I don't know why he seems to have a personal vendetta against me! He's just jealous! It's so petty."

"I know, but there's no point in antagonising him. Just let your racing do the talking."

Jamie's mother drove out onto the balcony. "It's time for the cake, everyone!"

Those outside on the balcony began to head inside the apartment. Lightning saw Leyland give Shane a rough push towards the door.

 _If it's a fight Shane wants, he's going to get it!_ Lightning though crossly. _Out on the racetrack, of course._

Inside, Sally raised her eyelids at Lightning in surprise. "What happened to you? You're all wet!"

"Shane pushed me into the pool,' Lightning replied bitterly.

Sally frowned. "And what did you do to him?"

"Nothing, unfortunately. Luckily, Leyland and Dutto saw the whole thing."

Someone switched off the lights, and Jamie's mother appeared carrying Jamie's lit birthday cake on a tray attached to her side. She carefully slid the cake down onto the table in front of Jamie.

"One, two, three!" she called out, and everyone immediately began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Jamie. Happy birthday to you!"

Jamie blew out the candles with just one breath. As soon as the flames had died, someone switched the lights back on. Lightning grinned when he saw that the cake was, as Jamie had promised, a chocolate mud cake covered in chocolate icing and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. After everyone who wanted to had taken some pictures, Jamie's mother began cutting up the cake and serving it out. Even though the cake looked amazing, Lightning only wanted one of the doughnut halves, and that's what he got. He smirked when he saw Shane gulping down a large piece of cake.

 _Yep, I'll let my racing do the talking,_ Lightning thought contently.

 **Sorry, short chapter. I wasn't originally going to have this one, but I felt it was important to highlight the rivalry within the team. Thank you once again for your reviews! Please keep them coming. I can assure you, they are greatly appreciated.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Test Day

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 6 – Test Day

 **Triple Eight Race Engineering Headquarters, Banyo, 13kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Monday, 15 February 2016.**

Frowning, Dutto flicked through Lightning's data records for the past two weeks. While Tony was turning in all of Lightning's data, Dutto was yet to see Lightning actually train inside the training room. Even Craig was now back in training, albeit carefully, so Lightning had no excuse.

Leaving his office, Dutto made his way downstairs to Dr Andrews' office. He was relieved to find that the team doctor wasn't too busy to see him.

"Doctor Andrews, is there any reason why Lightning can't train?"

"No. I gave you a copy of his latest medical exam last week. Actually, I don't think he's ever been fitter. He's more than ready to race. The problem is, he's a huge bundle of energy right now. Even when I was conducting his medical he could barely stop fidgeting."

Dutto frowned again. "He must be training off-site then. That's the only explanation. Thanks Doctor Andrews. I think it's time for me to have a little chat with Tony…"

A few minutes later, Dutto entered Tony's office. He wasn't surprised to find Lightning in there with him, having a serious conversation with his crew chief.

"I'm glad I've caught you both together," Dutto said as he closed the door. "There's something I'd like to get straightened out. How much training has Lightning actually done in the past two weeks?"

"Oh, heaps," Tony replied. "We're focusing on endurance training, so he's been doing close to four hundred and fifty kilometres a day."

"At around a hundred kilometres an hour," Dutto mused as he looked at Lightning's file again. He looked at them both again. "All right, what's been going on?"

"Nothing!" Lightning replied, but then he burst out laughing. Dutto glared at him crossly.

"Lightning, I'm not in the mood for any games. Our test day is just three days away, and I'm expecting you to be at your very best."

"He is, I can assure you," Tony replied. He exhaled deeply. "I knew you'd start to wonder what's going on before too long. I've been training Lightning off-site, and I must say he's been enjoying it very much. Leyland knows all about it, and my training schedule met with his approval. CAMS have approved of it too."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We wanted to surprise everyone," Lightning said. "Including you."

Dutto continued frowning. He studied Lightning closely for a moment. Sure enough, the second youngest racer on the team looked very fit and energised. His eyes were bright and full of determination too.

"Very well. You may continue with the training schedule you're using. However, if Lightning doesn't perform up to standard on Thursday, I will have to ask Leyland to reconsider your position as Lightning's crew chief."

Now it was Lightning's turn to frown. Once Dutto had gone, Lightning spoke.

"I won't let you down, Tony."

"I know you won't. We'll surprise them all on Thursday."

…

 **Thursday, 18 February 2016.**

The sun had barely even risen when four sleepy racers arrived at team headquarters on Thursday morning. Owing to the early start, Craig and Jamie had spent the night at Lightning's house, while Shane had spent the night with Leyland. Ever since Shane had pushed Lightning into the swimming pool at Jamie's place, Leyland had done his best to keep them both apart. He was sure that, in time, Lightning and Shane would learn to tolerate each other at least. He hoped that the competitiveness between them would produce the results he wanted to see.

Leyland was glad that CAMS had changed the rules that year to allow the teams in each of the different States to meet up at their respective 'home' racetrack for their official test day, rather than having them all meet up in Sydney on the same day like they'd done in the past. The rules were still the same, and there would be officials at the track today to ensure that all of the teams complied, but at least they didn't have far to travel.

Red and the new transport driver, Wally, were just hooking up to the transporters by the time Leyland, Lightning, Craig, Jamie and Shane arrived. Dutto was busy marking off a checklist as the pit crew loaded all of their equipment inside the transporters. Once he was sure they had everything, the pit crew boarded their small truck, and they set off for Queensland Raceway at Ipswich.

"Okay, guys," Dutto said to the racers. 'Let's get you lot loaded up, and then we can get underway."

Lightning and Craig drove over to the transporter Wally would be hauling. Craig drove inside the luxurious transporter first. Lightning was just about to follow him inside, when he heard a loud 'thud!' come from inside the other transporter.

"Ow! Shane! Move your rear end over!" Jamie shouted.

Dutto drove up the ramp, and he began ordering them to settle down. Sighing, Lightning drove inside his transporter, and he pressed the button to close the door.

"We're ready to roll, Wally," Craig told their driver over the intercom.

Wally responded by starting up his engine. "Roger that, Craig. I'll let you guys know when we're about to arrive at the track."

"Thanks mate."

Wally was the first transporter to set off from team headquarters. Once they were on the highway, Lightning started to settle down on a couple of cushions to go back to sleep, but then Craig spoke up.

"Lightning, I want you to be kinder to Shane."

"Why should I?" Lightning grumbled. "He hasn't exactly been civil to me. I still haven't forgiven him for pushing me into Jamie's swimming pool, and he's yet to apologise for it."

"I know, but if you treat him nicely, he'll feel obligated to do the same."

Lightning scoffed. "I doubt it. He could just end up stabbing me in the roof."

"Lightning… I'm asking this as your step-father."

"Oh, all right," Lightning grumbled as he fluffed up his cushions again. "I'll do my best, but don't expect me to be nice to him on the racetrack. I'll be more than happy to take him out of a race, even if it means incurring Leyland's wrath."

"I hope you're not being serious."

"Maybe. Can I go back to sleep now, please? It'll be at least an hour before we get to the track."

Craig nodded. Once he was sure that Lightning had dozed off, he slipped on a pair of headphones, and he turned on the TV so he could watch the early morning news.

Shortly before seven o'clock, Wally turned into the driveway at Queensland Raceway. Red was right behind him, followed by the rest of the team. Since they were the first team to arrive there, they had to wait for security to open up the venue for them.

A few minutes later, Wally and Red parked in the designated transporter parking area, next to pit row. Craig gently nudged Lightning.

"Come on, son. Wake up. We're here."

Lightning stirred slightly. Craig gave him another nudge.

"Speedster? Wake up!"

Someone pressed the external button to lower the transporter's ramp, and the noise finally woke Lightning. He yawned widely.

"What? Are we here already?"

"Yes, sleepyhead," Craig said. "Come on. It's time to get to work."

Hearing another loud argument coming from the other transporter, Lightning and Craig drove out of their own transporter to see what was going on. Sure enough, Jamie and Shane were still fighting.

"…And the next time I tell you I want to sleep, perhaps you'll let me go inside first!" Jamie snapped at Shane.

"I have to travel close to the driver," Shane argued. "I get motion sick otherwise."

"Yeah right!"

Leyland sounded his horn loudly. "All right, settle down everyone! Especially you two," he added, glaring pointedly at Shane and Jamie. "We have a very busy day ahead of us today, so while the pit crew are busy setting everything up, I want you four to go for a track drive with your respective crew chiefs and Dutto."

By nine o'clock, Lightning, Craig, Jamie and Shane had completed their track drive, debriefed with their crew chiefs and had breakfast. The track officials and the two other teams who were testing at Queensland Raceway that day had arrived during that time, but clearly the other teams weren't anywhere near as organised as the Redbulldozer Racing team. Lightning was surprised to see Renee Gracie with the larger of the two other teams. The female Development Series racer had belittled Lightning a lot during the start of the previous racing season, but once Lightning began consistently winning races, she left him alone. The two of them eyed each other for a few minutes, but since they weren't racing in the same series this year, they chose to ignore each other.

The officials decided that they couldn't wait for the other teams, so they gave Leyland permission to send his racers out first. Owing to the order of the pit garages, Jamie left pit lane first, followed by Shane, Craig and then Lightning. Lightning didn't mind being the last one out for the team. He was delighted just to finally have his very own pit garage, and a shared pit crew with Craig. Craig was wearing the special brace on his axle, just as a precaution.

After completing a couple of warm-up laps, Lightning saw Shane begin to take off on a fast lap. He also began to accelerate, but Tony quickly stopped him.

"Not yet, Speedster," he ordered over the radio. "Let's just see what sort of times they set."

Lightning gritted his teeth with frustration. He was dying to race now that he was fit again, so to be told to wait was torturous for him. A lap later, Craig and Jamie also went on a fast lap, leaving Lightning far behind.

Dutto drove over into Lightning's pit garage and he parked just behind Tony. Tony knew he was there, but he ignored him.

"Okay, Lightning, Shane currently has the fastest time with a one-thirteen point eight-nine-two-one. Craig and Jamie are still well off the pace. Oh, and guess what? The media have just rocked up. Are you ready to put on a show for them?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Lightning replied enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, in the other pit garage, some of the media had just started interviewing Leyland.

"Leyland, now that you've expanded to a four-car team, who do you believe is the strongest racer in your team?" a reporter asked Leyland.

"I'd say that they're all strong contenders for the Championship," Leyland replied. "I wouldn't have them on my team if they weren't."

"From the time sheet behind you, it looks like Shane is really setting an early pace."

"Yeah, well it's still early days yet. I know that Jamie is more focused than ever, and Lightning is-"

The roar of a rapidly accelerating V8 engine interrupted the conversation. Looking out of the pit garage, the media saw Lightning beginning his first fast lap. Leyland quickly returned his attention back to the computers.

"Dutto, is Lightning on a fast lap?" he asked over the radio.

"Yes."

"Tell him to put his headlights on then!"

Dutto quickly relayed the message to Lightning. However, Lightning was concerntrating so hard that he almost didn't hear Dutto's message. Furious at the interruption, he backed off the pace, flicking on his headlights at the same time.

"I'm going again, Tony," he said over the radio. "And tell Dutto that I did NOT appreciate that interruption!"

"Never mind, Speedster," Tony soothed. "At least your tyres will now be at their peak for a flying lap. I'll make sure Dutto maintains radio silence until you've finished the lap. You're looking really good now, so go when you're ready."

Racers from the other teams were now beginning to enter the track, and so it was starting to get rather congested. Luckily, when the officials saw Lightning coming down the home straight with his headlights on, they made the racers leaving pit row wait until after he'd gone racing past.

Lightning was thoroughly delighted with his fast lap. He took the corners smoothly and perfectly, making sure he used as much of the track as he needed to, and no more. He stayed perfectly on the racing line for the entire lap, which greatly helped his speed. Tony couldn't help grinning as soon as Lightning had crossed over the start/finish line.

"Brilliant lap, Speedster!" he praised. "You're now at the top of the leader board with a one-ten point one-four-two-one! Turn off your headlights, do a couple of cool down laps, and then come in for a rest."

"Copy that. Thanks, Tony."

Tony turned to face Dutto. "Satisfied?"

"Yes," Dutto sighed. "I'm just annoyed because I've been training racers my whole career, and I know how to get the best out of them. I guess you could say that, yes, I'm jealous. I'm very jealous that Lightning is getting along so well with you, and at the same time I'm delighted that he is doing so well. I guess I'll have to accept your judgement with him from now on. Keep up the good work"

Dutto returned to the team's other pit garage, and he parked beside Leyland. He exhaled deeply.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Leyland asked.

"I guess I've just realised that Lightning is a serious contender for the Championship this year."

Leyland chuckled. "I could've told you that! Shane's arrival has really caused a stir with him and Jamie. Can't you see that they're feeding off each other's competitiveness? That's going to be fantastic once the real races start!"

Dutto frowned as he looked at the data on the screen in front of him. "And Craig?"

"Craig is playing the game too, only he's being a lot smarter about it. He'll wait until the others have worn themselves out fighting, and then he'll pounce. At least, that's what I believe will happen. We'll just have to wait and see."

Jamie ended up setting the fastest lap time that day, with a time of 1:09.4583. Lightning only just managed to beat Shane into second place by just a tenth of a second. Craig ended up in sixth place on the timesheet, simply because he was only there to see how his healing axle would cope on a racetrack. It felt nice and strong again, but he wasn't prepared to take any chances with it yet. He smiled when he saw Lightning, Jamie and Shane all competing with each other to try and set the fastest time. Their competitiveness was contagious, and he really couldn't wait until the Adelaide 500 in just two and a half weeks. From what he'd seen today, he knew it was bound to be a very exciting weekend.

 **Longer chapter this time! Please, don't forget to review. I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Day 1 at the Adelaide 500

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 7 – Day 1 at the Adelaide 500

 **Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide, South Australia – Friday, 4 March 2016.**

"Can it get any hotter?" Lightning complained as he, Craig, Jamie, Shane and Dutto made their way to the compulsory Competitors and Racers meeting. Leyland and their crew chiefs had already gone on ahead to the meeting room, while the racers had finished up their breakfasts.

"Don't hold your breath," Dutto said. "The forecast is predicting that most of the weekend will be in the high thirties."

A collective groan came from all four racers. Dutto held the meeting room door open with his forklift arm, while they entered the room. The air conditioning hit them like an arctic blast, but it was very welcome. Once they were all inside, Dutto escorted them over to the front of the room, where Leyland and the crew chiefs were already parked. Dutto made sure that Craig was between Shane and the other two, just to make sure that nothing happened between them during the meeting.

At precisely eight o'clock, the meeting got underway. Tim Schenken, the Championship Series racing director, drove to the front of the room.

"All right, everyone, settle down, please. Let's get this meeting underway. First off all, we just need to make sure that you're all here. We'll begin with Triple Eight Race Engineering. Leyland? Is everyone here who should be here from your team?"

Leyland quickly looked around at his team. "Yes, everyone's here."

Tim went through the rest of the teams. Everyone was there, except for one team, who came later and was fined $250. He then began to run over some rule changes, and some reminders.

"One thing we will be cracking down on a lot more this year is the amount of racing room you guys give each other," Tim said. "Racers who don't move over for those who are doing a fast lap, will be penalised; especially during qualifying. You all have headlights for a reason, so use them and take note of those behind you who have them on. I hope I've made that clear enough for all of you. Right, now all racers are required to provide us with fuel and oil samples before ten o'clock, so I'll let you go now."

Leyland turned to his four racers. "Go and get those samples done now, so we can get you ready for practice, and not rushing around at the last minute."

Reluctantly, Lightning went with Dutto and the others over to the first-aid room. Since Elinor was now Dr Lee's assistant nurse, she wasn't allowed to take samples from any of the Triple Eight team racers, so Dr Lee managed them himself, while Elinor took samples from the racers on another team.

"Ow!" Lightning whined when Dr Lee stuck a needle into one of his oil lines.

"Sorry," Dr Lee apologised. "I didn't mean to be that rough. Lightning?" He frowned when he saw that Lightning had fainted. After Dr Lee had taken the oil sample and sealed the oil line, he gently shook the race car. "Lightning? Come on, mate, wake up."

Groaning, Lightning slowly came around. However, as soon Dr Lee began siphoning some fuel out of his tank, Lightning passed out again.

The next time Lightning woke up, he found himself in a small recovery area off to the side of the first aid room. Dutto was parked nearby, looking through some paperwork. He looked up when he saw Lightning blink open his eyes.

"How are you feeling, Speedster?"

"Um… Okay, I guess. What's going on?"

"The others have already gone back to the pit garage to get ready for the first practice session. Just stay away from Shane. Doctor Lee thinks he's coming down with a cold."

Lightning snorted. "It will give me the greatest pleasure to stay away from him, believe me!"

"Obviously, you're feeling much better now. Doctor Lee said you could leave as soon as you're feeling strong enough."

Lightning revved his engine quietly. "Let's get outta here then!"

…

At 10:25, pit lane exit was opened for the first practice session. As the racers made their way out onto the track for the first time since their track-drive the day before, the commentators began speculating about each team.

"It's going to be interesting to see how the Redbulldozer team manager, Mark Dutton, copes with handling four racers at once," one of them said. "Lightning McQueen, the Development Series Champion from last year, he's looking good and fast, but it will be interesting to see just how well he goes in the Championship Series."

Meanwhile, Jamie had already jumped clear of the field, obviously hoping to stay out in the fresh air so he could get a good run. Lightning remained calm and relaxed, waiting for further instructions from Tony. After a few warm-up laps, Tony told him what he wanted him to do.

"Okay, Lightning, Ludo is just about to bring Craig in for some minor adjustments, so you'll get a bit of clear air to go for a few fast laps. Don't push yourself though. I just want you to focus on warming up. Don't worry about your time or what anyone else is doing, okay?"

"Yeah, copy that, Tony," Lightning replied over the radio.

Once Craig had peeled off into pit lane, Lightning began to accelerate. It didn't take him long to close the gap on Shane, who was on a slow lap. Lightning already had his headlights on to show that he was on a fast lap. However, instead of moving over and giving the racing line to Lightning, Shane blocked him. Although Lightning wanted to swear at Shane, he knew that the officials would fine him heavily for it, so he quickly bit his tongue. Besides, they were racing down the fastest part of the track, where the notorious turn eight was located, and so Lightning really needed to concentrate, or he'd end up side-swiping the solid concrete wall.

Just then, Jamie lost control of where his wheels were going, and he spun out ahead of them, at turn nine. Shane braked hard to avoid hitting him, and Lightning also took evasive action by steering sharply to the right. Shane then accelerated, too hard and too fast, and he ended up smashing his rear right-hand fender against Lightning's front left-hand fender.

"Ow!" Lightning yelped as a sharp stab of pain shot throughout his entire body. Then, the pain was replaced by an intense rage. He and Jamie both accelerated at the same time, and they set off in hot pursuit of Shane.

Meanwhile, Leyland was shouting at all three of them over the radio, but Lightning couldn't quite make out what he was saying because he was so angry. He slipped in behind Jamie as they went around turn ten.

It didn't take long for Jamie and Lightning to catch up with Shane. Some of his bodywork had broken on his impact with Lightning, and it was scraping against his right rear tyre, causing a serious amount of drag.

"Lightning, did you hear Leyland's message?" Tony asked him over the radio.

"Yes, but I couldn't understand what he was saying," Lightning replied as he and Jamie overtook Shane.

"He wants the three of you to pit immediately."

Lightning gave an exasperated sigh. "Copy that. Entering pit lane now."

As Lightning followed Jamie into pit lane, he turned on his pit lane speed limiter, to make sure he didn't exceed the pit lane speed limit. The last thing he needed right now was a fine for going too fast down pit lane; especially since Leyland was bound to be livid over what had just happened.

Craig had just gone back out onto the track, so Lightning drove straight inside their shared pit garage. As soon as he'd stopped, the pit crew immediately began to assess the damage to his front left-hand fender.

"It's not that bad," one of them reported to Tony. "We should be able to straighten it out, but there's only five minutes left of practice, so it might be best to leave it."

"Okay," Tony replied. "Lightning? Do you feel up to having one more try at a fast lap?"

Lightning immediately shook his front. "Just get that fixed, so I can, hopefully, get a better run in the next practice session."

Tony nodded in understanding.

About fifteen minutes later, the pit crew had nearly managed to repair Lightning's fender, when Leyland and Dutto drove into the pit garage from the adjoining one.

"What did the officials say?" Tony asked.

"They've decided not to officially penalise Shane for the incident, since he only took out a teammate, but I have personally fined him, and I am going to make him apologise to Lightning. Yes, I know that Jamie's spin escalated the fracas, but it started when Shane refused to give Lightning racing room, even after I ordered him too. I've decided to crack down on racers who decide to disobey my orders, so I've come down very hard on Shane. Anyway, how's Lightning?"

"All repaired now, boss," another one of the pit crew replied. "It's not perfect, but it'll do for the rest of today. The smaller dents should heal by themselves overnight."

"Good. Lightning? How are you feeling now?"

"Can I go and tear Shane apart?" Lightning asked through gritted teeth.

Leyland chuckled and, aside, he said to Tony, "He's obviously feeling better." Then, turning back towards Lightning, he said, "Request denied, although I do know how you feel. It's obvious that Shane is not a team player. He has been racing all by himself for so long that he seems to have forgotten how to cope with having teammates."

'That's still no excuse for what he did to me," Lightning scowled.

"No, it isn't." Leyland agreed. He exhaled deeply.

Lightning could see that Leyland looked stressed, so he decided to try and ease his boss' worries. "Hey, Leyland? I made a promise to Craig that I would try to get along with Shane. I don't have to like him, I know, but I promise I won't do anything to provoke him."

Leyland smiled. "Thanks, mate. You don't know what it means to me to hear you say that."

…

Lightning ended up getting 19th in the first practice session, while Jamie got 15th. Craig finished in 3rd and Shane, miraculously, finished in fourth. Lightning frowned as he reviewed the times and the video footage. Clearly, he needed to pick up the pace somewhere. He'd had exactly the same difficulty at this racetrack last year. He was just under a second off the pace, and while that didn't sound like much, when it came to racing, it was a huge gap.

It was sweltering by the time the second practice session got underway immediately after lunch. The temperature was peeking at thirty-four degrees (Celsius), which meant that it wasn't only the racers who were beginning to suffer from heat stress. Ice creams and drinks made from crushed ice were very popular with the crowd; especially the children.

Shane missed the start of the second practice session, owing to the damage he'd sustained earlier. Lightning did his very best, but he ended the practice session still seven-tenths off the pace. He was feeling rather frustrated by the time he returned to the pits.

"Nineteenth again?" he complained to Tony.

"Go and cool down in the ice bath," Tony ordered, ignoring Lightning's complaints. He could see that Lightning was just hot and bothered now, and he needed Lightning to be a hundred percent focused for the qualifying rounds later that afternoon.

The ice bath did help Lightning settle down and refocus on what he needed to do that afternoon. He went through everything again with Tony, comparing his data with his teammates, because he wanted to know just where he could improve.

"Turn eight," Tony told him firmly. "You need to be more committed going into that turn. I know it's only a slight right-hander, but you need to put everything into it. You can't hold back, or you will lose valuable time. However, you can't push too hard, or you'll slam into the wall."

"I know," Lightning whispered. He glanced over at Craig, who was also going through his own data with Ludo. He couldn't understand why Craig loved this racetrack so much, or how he managed to do so well on it.

"Lightning?" Tony called, snapping Lightning out of his thoughts. "I need you to focus, please."

"Sure, sorry Tony. I'll do my very best at turn eight."

Outside the pit garage, an air horn sounded, indicating that it was time for the racers to line up for the first qualifying round.

"You can do this, Speedster," Tony said encouragingly.

The ten-minute qualifying session began smoothly. Lightning used his first lap to warm-up, and then, following Tony's instructions, he flicked on his headlights and went for a fast lap. Up ahead, he could see that Craig, Shane and Jamie were also doing fast laps.

Jamie had been setting a great pace when, as he approached the final corner, a Championship rookie, got in his way. The rookie clearly didn't mean to, because he got confused over what to do, but sadly Jamie had to slow down for him, and that ruined his fast lap.

"Never mind," Davo told him over the radio. "Take a breather lap, and then go again. You can do it, Jamie!"

And Jamie did. He ended up qualifying in second place, only nine hundredths of a second behind the pole winner, Scott Pye. Shane qualified in sixth place, while Craig qualified in eleventh. Lightning qualified in fifteenth, half a second off the pace.

"That was a great qualifying session, Lightning," Tony told him as soon as the race car had returned to the pits. "You didn't hold back at turn eight, and you were consistent throughout all of the sectors. Unfortunately, the competition is just so close these days."

Lightning was breathing heavily, more from the intense heat than from exertion. He clapped his lips around the straw of a protein drink without bothering to reply to Tony. The pit crew swarmed around Lightning and Craig, so they could prepare them for their next qualifying session, which was due to start in just fifteen minutes.

A commotion suddenly came from the adjoining Redbulldozer pit garage. Hearing the shouting, everyone in the second pit garage hurried next door.

"Jamie!" Craig exclaimed in shock when he saw his friend collapsed on his chassis on the concrete floor. Dr Andrews was with him, and he was trying to make Jamie drink one of his protein drinks. The large industrial fans inside the garage were being trained on Jamie.

"What happened?" Tony asked.

"Jamie just collapsed from heat exhaustion," Leyland explained, clearly very concerned. "Will he be all right, Doctor Andrews?"

"I think so," Dr Andrews replied. "We just need to cool him down and get some coolant into him, after he's had the protein drink… Come on, Jamie. You must drink."

Jamie took another slow sip. He felt so sick, and he could feel his oil lines pulsating as they worked to pump oil around his body, while his engine worked hard to try and cool him down. A low, exhausted groan escaped his lips.

Seeing that Jamie was being well looked after, Lightning and Craig returned to their pit garage to finish getting ready for the second qualifying session.

…

Jamie had recovered sufficiently by the time the second qualifying session got underway ten minutes later. Even though Dr Andrews wasn't terribly happy about letting Jamie go back out to race, Jamie promised to pit if he started feeling heat stressed again.

The second qualifying session passed without any incidents. Jamie, despite his heat stress, still managed to qualify in second place behind Chaz Mostert, who was making a remarkable comeback after his horrific crash at the Bathurst 1000 the previous year. Shane qualified in fifth, while Craig qualified in ninth. Once again, Lightning was the slowest qualifier in the team, qualifying in twelfth.

"Your times are still very consistent, Lightning," Tony told him afterwards. "That's good, because in the Championship Series, it isn't always the fastest who does the best; it's the most consistent."

"Unless you're consistently last," Lightning snorted, making Tony chuckle.

"Well, fortunately, that's not you. We still have a lot to work on, but I don't believe it will be long before you're up there in pole positon and winning races."

"I do hope you're right," Lightning muttered.

A few minutes later, Leyland called Lightning, Craig, Jamie and Shane together for a debrief inside the transporter.

"First of all," Leyland began, "Jamie, the rookie that cut you off has been penalised two grid positions in race one for blocking you in the first qualifying round. I wasn't going to pursue that matter, but obviously the officials felt it was warranted. Secondly, Shane… What happened between you and Lightning today must NEVER happen again! You're teammates now, and I don't care if you hate each other's fuel tanks; when you're out on the racetrack, you MUST race fairly. Next time, I doubt the officials will be quite so lenient. We need to show our sponsors and our fans that we are a united team. By all means, fight and bicker with each other when you're away from the track, but when you're here, I expect you to do your job fairly and safely. You can consider yourself publically warned now, Shane. Right, now that's all I've got to say for now. You can all sleep in until seven tomorrow morning, since your next practice session isn't until ten-thirty a.m. Goodnight."

"'Night, Leyland," the four exhausted racers muttered in reply.

Lightning and Craig were the first to leave the pits, since they both wanted to spend time with their respective wives that evening. Unfortunately, just outside the gates, a mob of reporters was waiting for them.

"Lightning, is it true that you and Shane hate each other?"

"You weren't up there with the leaders today. Does that mean that you're finding the V8s rather intimidating?"

"Did the heat get to you today, McQueen?"

Craig stopped, and Lightning instinctively halted alongside him.

"I'll handle this," Craig whispered to his step-son. Lightning merely nodded. He was too tired to want to deal with the media anyway.

Craig cast his characteristic smile at the reporters, who, realising that Craig was about to speak, quickly quietened down.

"The team had a good day today," Craig said. "We had a communications breakdown between Shane and Lightning, but that problem has now been dealt with. As for Lightning, if you'd even bothered to look at the results from today, you would have seen that Lightning is not that far behind the leaders at all. I'm sure it won't be long before he wins his first race in the V8 Supercars. This racing format has been described as the toughest racing Championship in the world to win, so give Lightning some credit for even being here. As I'm sure you're all aware, our teammate, Jamie Win-cup, has just been named the world's best race car in history. No other racer has even come close to winning six Championship titles in the same category the way he has, so for Lightning to be competing against him is probably the toughest thing he'll ever have to do in his racing career. After this experience, I'm sure Lightning will go on with his career with more confidence and skills than he ever had before."

The whole time Craig spoke, Lightning stared at him, taking in his every word. Craig was right. He shouldn't complain for being only half a second off the pace. The margins were so close and, with a bit more effort, he was sure he could be just as competitive as his teammates.

 **First of all, I must deeply apologise for taking so long to update. I lost my motivation for a while, so I worked on another FanFiction story in another fandom. The good news is, I'm back now! And...drum roll, please! I am now officially a Triple Eight Race Engineering team member! So, now I'll be able to follow the whole team even more closely than I did last year, especially when it comes to getting behind the scenes.**

 **Thank you so much for your reviews! Especially Guest, who always takes the time to write thought-provoking reviews.**

 **CJ, I am thrilled that you have been a faithful reader of my stories. These are my answers to your questions:**

 **1\. Sadly, no, there is no way I can create a cover image of Lightning in the Redbulldozer paint scheme, because it is rather complex, and I simply don't have the skills to recreate it. There are plenty of images of the team's cars online that you can look at to imagine what that paint scheme would look like on Lightning. You'll have to use your imagination there, sorry. The current cover photo is one I took at the Ipswich races last year, where I met Craig and Jamie in person. They had a big Cars display there, including that life-sized model of Lightning.**

 **2\. Which new transporter are you referring to? The one in America that was used to get Lightning to the Piston Cup race, or the new Redbulldozer team's transporter, Wally? If the former, then no, because he was only hired to take Lightning to that one race. He was only a minor character. As for Wally, I haven't decided yet just how much you'll get to read about him, sorry.**

 **3\. Craig, Jamie and Shane are all current generation VF Commodores externally. Whenever there's any alteration to the model, their bodywork is also upgraded. However, there chassis is still the one they grew up with. The chassis is not allowed to be altered under V8 Supercar rules, but everything else can be. Yes, the surgery is painful for them, but they don't have to undergo it very often. Also, it's been announced that as of 2017, any make of car (including 6 cylinders) will be able to race in the Championship Series. Because of that rule change, it will no longer be called the V8 Supercars; it will just be called the Australian Supercars Series. I know Toyota are thinking of entering a team next sometime in the near future. Lightning is a test run for the new format, which is why he's allowed to race this year.**

 **I hope that all makes sense, and that it clears up a few of your questions. There are some details I just can't fit into my stories, or I forget to add them, so please feel free to ask! That applies to everyone.**


	8. Chapter 8 - Day 2 at the Adelaide 500

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 8 – Day 2 at the Adelaide 500

 **Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide, South Australia – Saturday, 5 March 2016.**

Shortly before seven o'clock the next morning, Dutto drove down the hallway of the hotel where the team was staying. Lightning and Craig were staying with their respective wives in rooms opposite each other, so when he stopped outside their rooms, he wasn't terribly surprised by the muffled sounds he heard coming from both rooms. From Craig and Elinor's room, he could hear low, pleasurable moaning, while from Lightning and Sally's room, he could hear excited giggling and laughter.

"Oh, that is fantastic, darling!" Dutto heard Craig say. "I need to talk to Leyland about replacing Doctor Anderson with you!"

 _Okay…_ Dutto thought _. Obviously she's giving him a massage. I wonder what Lightning and Sally are doing?_ Hearing a scream come from their room, Dutto frowned. _On second thoughts, I don't want to know! Pity I can't tell them to get a room. They're already in one!_

Dutto knocked on the door of Lightning and Sally's room. "Time to get up, Speedster!"

"Argh! Sally, get off me! Please!" Lightning yelped, laughing. "I have to get to the track… Oof!"

Having heard enough, Dutto knocked on the door of Craig and Elinor's room. "Time to get up, Craig."

"I'll be there soon, Dutto…"

"Now, please, Craig."

Craig just responded with another low moan. Shaking his head, Dutto drove away back down the hall to go and wake Shane and Jamie, who were sleeping in separate rooms.

…

By ten-thirty, Jamie, Shane, Craig and Lightning were all set to go on their third and final practice session, along with all of the other races. Leyland called his racers together for a little talk before the practice session began.

"Unlike yesterday, I want all of you to do your best in this practice session," Leyland said. "See this as the first few laps of the race, and don't hold back. But don't do anything stupid either, like crashing!"

The four racers chuckled quietly, but they knew that Leyland was being serious. Lightning and Shane glared at each other.

"Yes, I was looking at you two," Leyland told them firmly. "If I see a repeat of what happened yesterday, I'll be fining the culprit heavily."

"But Leyland, Lightning doesn't belong here!" Shane protested. "He should stay in the Development Series where he belongs. The Championship Series is an Australian racing series, and he isn't Australian."

"Says the New Zealander," Jamie scoffed, earning a cold glare from Shane.

"Lightning was a part of this team long before you were, Shane, and he thoroughly deserves to be in the Championship Series," Leyland told him firmly. "When you're a team owner, you can decide who you want to hire, but Lightning is here to stay, so just shut up, build a bridge, and get over it. Now, let's get you lot out there."

Lightning couldn't have asked for a better practice session. He was feeling great, and ready to race, as were Craig and Jamie. Shane was still suffering from his cold, so he wasn't really feeling at his best. Lightning took advantage of that, and he ended up finishing the practice session in eleventh with a time of 1:20.9071. Shane came in twelfth, while Craig came in tenth. Jamie finished in the best place for the team in eighth.

"Great work, everyone!" Leyland praised as they entered the pit garage one after the other. "I want to see more of the same in the races this afternoon."

"In your face, Shane!" Lightning said loudly when he saw the times. He'd been seven tenths of a second faster than Shane.

Shane just shrugged. "I can still go faster than you when I'm not sick."

Lightning bristled. He was about to retort, but Craig quickly pushed him into their own garage. "Save your breath, Speedster. He isn't worth the bother."

Lightning exhaled deeply. "I know, but he really gets to me the way Chick used to."

"Who?"

"Chick Hicks. He was one of my main rivals during my early years in the Piston Cup."

Craig was smirking now. "I'm glad he ruffles you that way. He'll keep you feeling competitive the way Jamie keeps me feeling competitive."

"Oh."

"Let's go have lunch. We've got two sprint races this arvo, so the sooner we have lunch, the better."

…

"Ladies and gentlecars, boys and girls! Welcome to the first day of racing in the Championship Series of the V8 Supercars for 2016! I'm Mark Skaife, and my fellow commentators this year are Neil Crompton and, for our American viewers, we have with us this year, former Piston Cup racer and now R.S.N. commentator, Darrell Cartrip. We'll cross over to Darrell now, who is live in pit lane…"

"Thank you for the welcome, Mark," Darrell said. "Yes, I've taken over from Kori Turbowitz this year, so I'd like to extend a warm welcome to our R.S.N. viewers who are watching these races live in the States right now. I came to Australia a few years ago to see the Bathurst 1000, and when I was taken on a hot lap around Mount Panorama, I knew I'd made one of the biggest mistakes in my life! I was terrified! These V8 Supercar racetracks are some of the scariest in the world, so I have full respect for of all the racers who go out there today, including our own Lightning McQueen. As you can see, I'm down in pit row outside the Triple Eight Race Engineering team, which is now better known as the Redbulldozer Racing team. As many of you may know, this is the team that Lightning McQueen now races for. We'll try not to disturb them, but let's just take a quick peek inside… There's Lightning over in the back corner there, talking to his crew chief, Tony Gearslownski. He looks like he's all ready to race. And over here, we have Craig Louds, who is Lightning's new step-father. Craig, can I just grab a quick word with you, please?"

"Yeah, sure," Craig replied, smiling for the camera.

"How do you feel about racing against your stepson?"

"Oh, you know, I don't really think about that too much when we're out on the track. Lightning's an incredibly talented racer, but if it comes down to the two of us fighting for the Championship at the end of the year, I won't make things easy for him, that's for sure! We're all out there to win the Championship, and in this sport you have to be a hundred percent committed to each race, or you won't finish; it's as simple as that."

"Great, thanks, Craig. Good luck out there today."

"Thanks, mate."

From the other Redbulldozer pit garage, Jamie watched Darrell leave with the R.S.N. camera crew. He drove over to Craig.

"What happened to Kori?"

Craig shrugged. "Obviously, you breaking up with her made her decide she didn't want to keep covering the series."

Jamie nodded slowly. "It's for the best. I mean, I did love her and all, but I needed to be practical. We both have our own lives to live, and racing comes first for me."

"That didn't stop me," Craig replied, glancing up at the V.I.P. above the pits. Even though he couldn't see her from that angle, he knew that Elinor, and Sally, would both be watching the race.

Jamie frowned as he followed Craig's gaze. "Let's just focus on the race. I don't know about you, but I want to get that Championship back more than anything else."

Craig exhaled deeply just as the air horn sounded in pit lane . It was time to race.

Five minutes later, having completed the warm-up lap, all of the racers were lined up on the grid. Jamie was starting from second, Shane from sixth, Craig from eleventh, and Lightning from fifteenth. By now, Lightning was full of adrenalin, and he revved his engine excitedly.

"Green flag, green flag…" Tony told Lightning over the radio.

Lightning kept his eyes on the red lights, waiting for them to go out and start the race. The crowd was quiet, waiting in anticipation for the race to start. Lightning licked his lips. It was already very hot, and it would only get hotter.

Finally, the lights went out, and the field of racers accelerated. Jamie had a brilliant start, and he took the lead off the start line. Lightning managed to keep his racing line until turn one, when he fell in behind heavy traffic.

By turn seven, the racers had started to settle down into formation. Jamie managed to get clear of the field, and by the end of the lap, he was well in the lead.

"Eyes forward, Jamie," Davo reminded him. "Eyes forward, mate." It was a gentle reminder for him to focus.

Meanwhile, Lightning was stuck towards the tail end of the battle pack. Craig was ahead of him and closer to the lead of the battle pack. He had no idea where Shane was.

"Where am I placed, Tony?" Lightning asked.

"Sixteenth," Tony replied. "It's early days though. You still have a long race ahead of you. Just try not to get knocked around out there, okay?"

"Copy that."

On lap five, Craig was brought in for a splash of fuel and a rear tyre change. Over the next two laps, a few other racers also pitted, but most stayed out. By now, Lightning was right in the middle of the battle pack, racing in thirteenth. Jamie still held the lead, while Shane was in fifth. Craig was at the back of the field in twenty-third.

On lap twelve, Shane pitted for fuel and he had all four tyres changed. He returned to the track just ahead of Craig, resulting in them having a race against each other for about half a lap, when Shane managed to accelerate away from Craig. Craig didn't mind. He knew that Shane's cockiness would eventually be his undoing. And besides, he knew better than to be goaded on by a much younger racer. He'd let Shane think he'd won this round, but he'd get him soon. Maybe not today, but soon.

Suddenly, up ahead of Lightning, he saw Slade go into the escape road at turn 9. Seconds later, Tony spoke over the radio. "Safety car has been deployed, Lightning."

"Do you want me to pit?" Lightning asked.

"Yes."

"Copy that. Pitting now." And Lightning entered pit row. Up ahead, he could see Jamie already in the team's other pit bay, being serviced.

"We'll give you a full service," Tony said firmly.

Lightning knew that a 'full' service simply meant that all of his tyres would be changed, and his full tank would be topped up. It was a clean pit stop for him, and he fell into line with the other races behind the safety car.

The restart came on lap 19. Jamie was still leading the race, with Shane in third. Craig was in sixth, while Lightning found himself well back in eighteenth. By lap 24, Lightning found himself battling Bright for position. He attempted to overtake at turn four, but he wasn't close enough, so he wisely held back. Two laps later, he finally got the job done at turn nine.

"Great work, Lightning," Tony praised. "You're doing well. Keep it up."

Aside from Craig earning himself a bad sportsmanship flag for overuse of the kerb at turn two, and Lightning overtaking a few more racers, the rest of the race was more or less uneventful. It ended with Jamie winning, while Shane finished on the podium as well in third. Craig finished in seventh, while Lightning finished exactly where he'd started, in fifteenth.

"It's only the first race of the year," Tony reminded Lightning once he'd returned to the pits. "Go get a drink and then cool down in the ice bath. The second race is in just over an hour, and I want to debrief before then."

…

The temperature was even hotter before the start of race two. In the pit garage, Lightning had parked himself in front of one of the large, industrial fans, and he had ice packs on his roof and bonnet to try and stay cool.

"I've been consulting with Leyland," Tony was saying. "And during this next race, he wants me to bring you in as soon as Jamie is brought in, even if Craig also pits."

"Which mean's I'll have to double-stack, right?" Lightning added.

"Possibly, but hopefully that won't happen. Even if it does, our pit stops are so fast, it shouldn't hurt you much anyway. Of course, if Craig ends up double-stacking behind you, that's a different story."

Lightning nodded. He knew how much Leyland hated having his racers double-stacking in the pits, but he had such a big team now that it was also inevitable that they'd have to double-stack sooner or later.

Finally, it was time for the second race to start. Lightning was glad he was starting from twelfth in this race. It wasn't as bad as starting from fifteenth as he had in the previous race, and since this race was being run on hard tyres, which was what he'd used all the time in the Piston Cup, he had a small advantage over most of the other racers.

Once again, Jamie was starting on the front of the grid in second. Shane was starting from fifth, and Craig was starting from ninth.

As soon as the lights went out, Lightning flew off the line as fast as he could. Unfortunately, everyone else around him was just as fast, and he ended up only moving up one place. The racers were much more unsettled than they'd been in the previous race, because they now had something to fight for. Lightning found himself in the battle pack again. He'd just started to get settled, when he heard Tony on the radio.

"Safety car is being deployed. Yellow flags, Lightning, yellow flags."

"Who crashed?" Lightning asked as he began to slow down to safety car pace.

"Pither, at turn eight."

Lightning frowned with concern. He'd raced against Pither in the Development Series, so he hoped he'd be okay. However, as Lightning passed the escape road at turn nine, he saw that Pither had badly damaged his front right-hand side. Pither would be lucky to not suffer a broken axle from that impact.

The race was restarted on lap eight. Race director, Tim Schenken, refused to allow racers to pit under safety car, since it was so early in the race, and he ruled that the pit window would open two laps after the restart. And so, on lap ten, nearly half of the field of racers pitted. Out of the Redbulldozer racers, only Shane stayed out. Unfortunately, Lightning ended up double-stacking behind Craig. Craig took ten litres of fuel and four new tyres, and Lightning did the same. Shane pitted a lap later, but unlike his teammates, his stop was not as clean. A rattle gun got stuck on his left rear wheel, which delayed him by a couple of seconds.

On lap twelve, Tander overheated and had to pit for medical attention. He managed to recover enough by lap seventeen and he rejoined the race. But just as he rejoined the race, Blanchard rammed him from behind at turn two. That resulted in Blanchard injuring his jaw, and he started bleeding oil on the track, so the safety car was deployed.

The race restarted again on lap twenty. Shane found himself right behind Craig, which did not please him. He attempted to overtake Craig at turn five, but Craig expertly blocked him. By lap twenty-five, Jamie was racing in second, Craig was in eighth, Shane was in ninth, while Lightning was back in fourteenth.

A lap later, Shane managed to overtake Craig at turn nine, but only after pushing Craig wide off the racing line. Naturally, Leyland wasn't terribly impressed.

"That was a dirty move, Shane," he scolded the young racer over the radio. "I'll be discussing that with you later."

But Shane didn't seem to care. Lightning had seen Shane overtake Craig, and he was furious with Shane's callousness. Lightning's RPMs shot up and, out of frustration, Lightning flew past Coulthard on the approach to turn eight. It was a dangerous area to overtake in, but Lightning didn't care. All he wanted to do was vent his frustration over Shane.

"Settle down, Lightning," Tony soothed. "I don't want you overheating."

Meanwhile, at the front of the field, Jamie was trying to overtake Courtney, but heat stress was starting to get the better of him. All he could do was keep the pressure on the leader. Further back, Craig was having a decent battle with Frosty. They ended up lightly touching each other at turn seven, but thanks to their experience, they got away with it.

Then, at turn nine on lap 30, Lightning caught up with the battle between Craig and Frosty, and he attempted to overtake them both on the inside. However, the two experienced racers blocked him, and he ended up falling in behind Frosty, who was behind Craig.

In the pits, Leyland turned to Dutto. "Why is Lightning so fired up? That's the second risky move he's made in as many laps!"

"I think Shane is really getting to him," Dutto replied. "And he just wants to prove Shane wrong. It won't hurt him to see just how far he can push himself. After all, Craig and Jamie did that too."

Leyland still wasn't happy, but he let the subject drop.

Back out on the track, Jamie was still in second, and Shane was holding onto fifth. Craig was in tenth and Lightning was in twelfth, with Frost sandwiched between them. However, all of the excitement was between Jamie and Courtney, who were battling for first place.

By lap thirty-seven, Jamie and Courtney were doing qualifying pace, which was incredibly exciting for the crowd, and the commentators. On lap thirty-seven Jamie was sitting directly behind Courtney, pushing them both to their limits.

Sadly, despite the numerous attempts he made during the final few laps, Jamie just couldn't manage to overtake Courtney. It was a thrilling race for everyone. In fact, on the very last lap, Courtney and Jamie came so close to the wall at turn eight, that their rear view mirrors were just millimetres from touching it!

"It's race two, and they're racing as though it's the last race in the Championship!" Mark Skaife exclaimed as both leaders rounded the last turn.

Courtney won the race by a car length. While Jamie was disappointed, he was also happy for Courtney. It was good to see him back winning races after his accident the previous year.

Back in pit lane, Darrell approached Jamie for an interview. "Jamie, that finish was unbelievable!"

"Yeah, I know," Jamie agreed. "I don't know if you missed it, that last lap, turn eight?"

"No, no, we saw it!"

"That was crazy stuff! I wanna see the data actually!"

"Skaife and Neil were on six cylinders; they've lost it!"

"Haha! Sorry about that. I'm surprised Leyland didn't blow a fuse watching that! It was unbelievable!"

"Congratulations on coming second. Enjoy the celebrations."

"Thanks."

For once, Lightning was grinning when he returned to the Redbulldozer pit garage along with Craig. Shane was already there, sipping on a protein drink.

"I want to see the footage of that last lap!" Lightning told Leyland excitedly. "I saw a bit of it on the big screen, but everyone's talking about what happened at turn eight!"

"Pfft!" Shane scoffed. "That was nothing. I've come closer to the wall than that."

"You'd have hit the wall if you did!" Lightning retorted.

"And I'd have spoilt my good looks if I had."

"Really? Hitting the wall would be an improvement then."

Dutto coughed and spluttered on the can of oil he was drinking. "Oh, thanks a lot, Lightning!"

"You're welcome," Lightning said smugly.

Dutto threw the can at him. Lightning ducked nimbly, and the can ended up hitting Shane's rear bumper.

"Ow!" he yelped. "Who threw that?"

Dutto quickly pretended to look busy. Clearing his throat, Lightning turned back to Leyland. He just stared at his boss without saying anything. Finally, Leyland looked at him.

"Did you want something, Speedster?"

"Yeah. The footage?"

Sighing, Leyland replayed the footage of the last lap.

A few minutes later, Jamie returned to the pit garage. "Davo! I want to see my data for the last lap, please!" He paused when he saw most of the team gathered around the TV screens. "What are you all watching?"

"The last lap," everyone replied in unison. Jamie just grinned.


	9. Chapter 9 - Day 3 at the Adelaide 500

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 9 – Day 3 at the Adelaide 500

 **Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide, South Australia – Sunday, 6 March 2016.**

"Ouch!" Lightning yelped when he awoke the following morning. It was nine o'clock, but he didn't have to be at the track until ten-thirty at the latest, so he'd slept in.

"Are you okay, Stickers?" Sally asked with concern as she woke up abruptly.

"Just sore from yesterday," Lightning winced. "Think I'll head down to the track early so Doctor Anderson can give me some physio."

Sally pouted. "I want to spend some more time with you."

"Me too, but I'm too sore for another tickle session this morning. Sorry beautiful." And Lightning kissed Sally fondly. Then he headed to the bathroom for a shower.

…

"Doctor Anderson?" Lightning called as he entered the team's transporter.

"Yes, Lightning?" Dr Anderson was already giving Jamie a physio session.

"Can I join the queue, please?"

"Sure. I'm almost finished with Jamie, so if you just wait, I'll do you in a few minutes."

"Thanks."

A few minutes later, Dr Anderson finished giving Jamie his physio. Jamie watched as Lightning settled down on the mat for his own physio session.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who's sore this morning," Jamie said.

"Same," Lightning agreed. "I was wondering what I might have done yesterday to cause it. Ow! Okay, that axle is really stiff."

"I'll work on it some more then," Dr Anderson said, and he proceeded to do so. Lightning winced.

"Ow! Yeah, that's starting to feel a bit better… You were saying, Jamie?"

"Oh, I was also just thinking that I hope Leyland doesn't renew Shane's contract. And I hope you don't go back to America. It's great having you here as part of the team."

Lightning smiled. "I still haven't made a decision about that, Jamie. But you'll be amongst the first to know once I do. As for Shane, I don't care what he says or does as long as he stays well out of my way."

Nodding, Jamie left the transporter.

"Oww!" Lightning yelped again.

"I think it might be easier just to throw you into an ice bath," Dr Anderson chuckled.

…

The first event for the Championship Series racers that day was the qualifying round for race 3 later that day. There was no designated warm-up session, so the racers would have to warm-up during qualifying.

Seeing how the qualifying position could really determine the end race result, Lightning was determined to throw everything he had into this qualifying round. And he did, despite the temperature peaking at 38 degrees. During the whole qualifying session, Lightning's times were never less than tenth on the leader board.

But then, about halfway into the twenty-minute qualifying session, Mostert's power steering suddenly failed on the final corner, and he started bleeding oil onto the track. He spun out on his own oil, but he managed to limp all the way down the home straight, coming to a stop just at the end of pit row. Seeing another racer lose control on the oil, race director, Tim Schenken, made a rare call.

"Red flag, Lightning, red flag," Tony told him over the radio. "Orders are to come into pit lane and stop, but I want you to come into the garage out of the heat. You're currently in P-eight."

"Copy that, Tony. Can you have a drink ready for me, please?"

"Will do."

Qualifying was red flagged while the track crew used sand to soak the spilled oil up. Then they swept the sand off the track, which took the oil with it. Meanwhile, Lightning, Shane and Jamie stayed inside the pit garages, to keep cool and to have some minor adjustments done to them. Craig opted to stay out in pit lane.

After five minutes, the qualifying session was allowed to resume, but now there was just five minutes left in the session. However, Leyland ordered Lightning, Shane and Jamie to wait in the pits until all of the congestion in pit lane had cleared. After completing another lap, Craig joined them in the pit garage.

"Whew! It sure is hot out there!" Craig exclaimed. "I think we only have time for one more attempt at a fast lap, right Ludo?"

"Zat is correct," the French crew chief replied.

"Okay, I want you all back out there now!" Leyland ordered.

The four racers immediately reversed out of the pit garages in perfect synchronisation, blocking Courtney, who was already making his way back out onto the track. Unfortunately for him, the Redbulldozer racers had priority, so he had to wait as they filed out onto the track. Jamie was first, followed by Shane, Craig and then Lightning.

With just over two minutes left in the qualifying session, Tony gave Lightning his instructions. "Go hard and fast now, Lightning. This will be your last chance before the end of the session."

Lightning responded by turning on his headlights. He was tired, hot and sore, but he gave that lap everything he had. He didn't even hold back at turn eight, which really frightened Sally and Elinor when they saw just how close he came to the wall.

"Oh, please be careful, Stickers!" Sally whimpered.

Lightning was so committed to doing his lap, that he barely even notice when he'd crossed the start/finish line. In fact, he was still accelerating as he crossed it. A loud 'whoop!' over his radio startled him.

"Fantastic work, Lightning!" Tony exclaimed. "You're currently in P-four with just one minute to go. We'll park it there, so turn off your headlights and come back into the pits. We're really happy with that effort."

"Thanks, Tony," Lightning replied, slightly dazed. "What time did I do?"

"Ahh… You did a one minute twenty point eight-eight-six-nine."

Lightning nodded. He was happy because it was pretty much the same as the times he was doing yesterday.

Unfortunately for Lightning, his fastest time didn't stay in fourth place overall. On the final lap of the qualifying session, several other racers managed to beat his time, pushing him further down the placings. By the time the qualifying session officially ended, Lightning had been bumped down into tenth place.

"Congratulation, Lightning!" Leyland praised. "You're into the top ten shootout!"

Lightning was shocked. "Really?"

"Yup!" Dutto confirmed, beaming. "You just scrapped through. Jamie and Shane got third and fourth. Unfortunately, Craig finished in seventeenth, so he's missed out."

Lightning immediately felt sorry for Craig. But when he saw his stepfather a few minutes later, he was pleasantly surprised to see Craig smiling.

"I knew you could do it," he said proudly. "You're into the top ten shootout at your very first race meeting in the Championship Series. That is a huge accomplishment! If Shane's not frightened of you yet, he should be. I know you'll make him eat his words."

"Thanks, Craig," Lightning smiled. "I'll do my best."

"I hope you always will."

…

The top ten shootout was very different to the qualifying session. Each racer who'd qualified for it did just three solo laps – a warm-up lap, a fast lap, and a cool-down lap. Lightning would have to do better than his qualifying time to be in with any hope of starting better than tenth.

"Look at it this way," Tony said just before the shootout began. "The worst you can do is qualify in tenth."

"I'll still give this everything I've got," Lightning replied, just as an official called his name.

"Lightning McQueen! You're first up!"

Revving his engine, Lightning drove over to the pit lane exit. He wait there for the official to clear him.

"Okay, you're good to go now," the official told him after receiving orders from race control. Lightning accelerated onto the track.

Even though Lightning did his absolute best, he accidentally oversteered at turn five, and he wasn't as brave at the wall on turn eight as he'd been during qualifying, so that slowed him down. His final time was two seconds slower than his qualifying time. Tony blamed it on the heat.

"Never mind, Speedster," he said while Lightning did his cool-down lap. "As I said, the worst you can qualify in is tenth. Now, let's just see what the others do."

Courtney was the next racer out, but his session ended when he overused the kerb at turn two and was disqualified. That bumped Lightning up into ninth, but sadly none of the other racers in the top ten shootout made that same mistake, so that's where Lightning stayed. Jamie qualified in fifth, while Shane managed to get third. He'd been a whole second faster than Lightning.

"In your face, Lightning!" Shane shouted at him as soon as he'd returned to the pits, quoting exactly what Lightning had said to him the day before. "You wouldn't have got ninth if Courtney hadn't made that blunder!"

"At least I made the top ten," Lightning reminded him quietly. "I'd be keeping an eye on my rear view mirrors if I was you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm coming for you."

"Ooohhh!" some of the pit crew members cat-called. They could see that things were really getting nasty between Shane and Lightning.

"All right, that's enough, everyone," Leyland interrupted. "It's time for lunch."

…

During the lunch break, the weather changed. While it was still a hot 34 degrees, dark clouds were beginning to gather, and the humidity was rapidly increasing. Upon arriving back at the pits, Leyland checked the weather radar.

"We're going to get some rain during the race," he concluded. He turned to the pit crew. "Get the wet tyres out and stack them where we can easily get to them."

The pit crew immediately rushed to do as instructed. Leyland looked at Lightning with concern.

"I know you haven't had much experience racing in wet weather, but I'm afraid you'll have to learn very quickly. Craig will be able to give you some tips."

"The most important thing to remember about wet weather is that, even with wet weather tyres, you'll still slip around a lot out there," Craig told Lightning a few minutes later. "You see, instead of washing all the oil and grease off the tarmac, the rain just spreads it. You'll probably end up with a few knocks and bruises, but just try to avoid sliding too much. It's like driving on ice when the rain is really heavy."

Now Lightning was worried. The only other time he'd raced in wet weather was at Bathurst the year before, but that hadn't been much. From the look of the radar, a big storm front was on its way. In fact, the commentators were now saying that there might be two storm cells heading their way.

Ten minutes before the race was due to begin, it started to spit. Lightning watched the rain from his dry pit garage. He was all ready to race and, like the others, he was wearing hard racing tyres. Craig parked beside him.

"I do hope it stops before the race," Lightning said quietly.

"Me too," Craig agreed. "Rain and race cars do not mix!"

Unfortunately, their hopes were dashed with the air horn sounded for the racers to make their way onto the grid. Lightning shivered as the rain hit him all over. He really wasn't looking forward to this race now, despite his good qualifying position.

Even while the field was lining up, the rain got even heavier. Lightning jumped onto his radio to Tony.

"I want wet tyres, now, Tony!" he begged. "I don't believe I'll survive one lap in this weather without them!"

"Leyland's already trying to find out if it's too late to make the change," Tony replied.

Thankfully, it wasn't. For several minutes, there was a mad rush as teams brought the wet tyres out to the racers on portable tyre racks. Lightning did his best to keep still while his tyres were changed, but it wasn't easy considering he was so full of adrenalin for the race. Craig, Jamie and Shane also insisted on having their tyres changed to wets too. Only Frosty, Holdsworth, Blanchard and Reynolds chose to remain on slick hard tyres.

The rain was bucketing down when the green flag was waved for the racers to begin their warm-up lap. Parts of the track was still reasonably dry, while other parts were already like a river! Lightning had never seen anything like it!

At turn eight on the warm-up lap, Lightning saw Frosty slide straight towards the wall! He managed to save himself, but clearly the hard tyres were useless in such weather. Frosty and the other racers on hard tyres pitted, while the rest of the racers lined up on the grid.

"Race control have just announced that there'll be a delayed start," Leyland informed his racers. "Just be patient. You'll be warned before the race begins."

The next thing Lightning knew, the safety car drove down the grid between the two rows of racers.

"The race will be delayed by five minutes," Leyland said once the safety car had passed through the racers. "We'll come and attend to you now."

The rain was getting heavier again. Lightning closed his eyes. He really didn't like getting wet. Seeing that Lightning was starting to get restless, some of the pit crew hurried over to him. They had a rain sheet with them.

"We're just going to cover you for a few minutes, Lightning, to help settle you down," one of them explained. "Doctor Andrew's orders."

Lightning didn't complain. At least he'd be dry for a few minutes. Some of the other racers were also covered with rain sheets to help keep them quiet.

When the air horn sounded again, the rain sheets were removed. The rain had eased up a little, so race control had decided to start the race under the control of the safety car.

A moment later, the safety car drove between the two rows of racers again, but this time the racers fell in behind him. Those racers who'd gone into pit row to change their tyres were allowed to join the race at the back of the field.

During the safety car controlled start, several racers decided to take the opportunity to pit for fuel. The racers were all required to take on an extra 140 litres of fuel during the race.  
Dutto wasn't pleased about that.

"They shouldn't be allowed to pit under safety car before the race even starts," he muttered.

"Good point," Leyland agreed. "Has the race even started yet? I'm not getting any lap times. I think we should protest that."

A drop of water landed on the computer screen. Looking up, Leyland and Dutto frowned with concern.

"Uh, oh! We've got a leak in the roof!" Leyland exclaimed.

The pit crew immediately set about rigging up an umbrella above the computers to channel the water away. Thankfully, the leak didn't cause any damage to the computers, and once the umbrella was in place, there were no further problems.

Meanwhile, Dutto took his copy of the rule book over to where some of the officials were, to protest the starting procedures under a safety car. One of the Nissan crew members had also come over to question the ruling. The officials promised to look into it, but as far as they were concerned, the race had already started. Dutto decided to accept that for the time being, just to make things easier for them since such a start was unprecedented, but he'd bring it up again with the officials post-race.

Meanwhile, on the track, the rain was starting to clear. The safety car was ordered to do one more lap, and then the racing would be allowed to begin.

"Lights out on the safety car," Tim Schenken instructed. "All racers are to maintain eighty kilometres an hour until the green flag."

Finally, on lap six, the race got underway properly. Lightning immediately found himself struggling to find any grip in the wet. There simply was none. Craig was right. It was just like driving on ice. The spray was awful too. Lightning might as well have been driving blind over a frozen lake.

"I am really struggling here, Tony!" Lightning exclaimed with frustration after a few laps.

"I know, mate. So is everyone else. Just do your best."

On lap eight, Tander accidentally bumped into Jamie and, given the conditions, Jamie did a complete 180 degree spin. He managed to get back on track, but he lost quite a few places.

A lap later, Shane moved into the lead at turn four. He really loved racing in wet weather, and he'd taken advantage of that. Unfortunately for him, his lead didn't last for long, because he struggled to pull up at turn nine and he had to run wide into the start of the escape road. Behind him, Mostert and Rick Kelly also got into a tangle at the same corner.

Meanwhile, Craig was beginning to gain ground on the leaders, and he was now sitting comfortably in fourth. Shane was now back in the lead again, but again it didn't last when Courtney overtook him. Jamie was in twelfth, and Lightning was struggling back in seventeenth. However, now that the sun was starting to come out again, Lightning was beginning to gain a bit of ground.

On lap eighteen, Bright decided to pit for fuel and a change to hard tyres. At turn nine, Shane made a move to overtake Courtney, who was now in the lead, but he ended up colliding with him and Shane damaged his front left-hand fender. Craig, who'd been behind them, dived through to take the lead.

Even though he'd taken the lead, Craig decided to pit for fuel and a change to hard tyres. Jamie, and about a third of the field followed him in. A lap later, Lightning and Shane took their pit stop.

"Lightning, we're going to give you half of your required fuel now," Tony explained as Lightning made his way down pit lane. "That means you'll have a longer pit stop now, but hopefully we can make up some time later in the race."

"Understood, Tony."

Lightning stopped exactly where he needed to in the pit bay. He was jacked up, and then the fuel nozzle was rammed into his fuel tank. He could feel the cold liquid flowing into his tank, and it made him shiver.

"You could've have warmed it up a little bit!" he complained to Tony.

"Sorry, mate. Ten seconds…"

The pit crew had already finished changing Lightning's tyres. As soon as the seventy litres of fuel had been pumped into Lightning's tank, the fuel nozzle was removed, and he was dropped down off the jacks.

"Right, you're clear to go now, mate," Tony instructed, and Lightning pulled out onto pit lane. "You're on cold, hard tyres now, so take care out there. It'll still be slippery for the first few laps."

"Okay."

Things were rather quiet on the track over the next few laps. Now that the track had started to dry out on the racing line, Lightning was able to race properly again. However, everyone was still keeping a close eye on the radar, because the second, and much larger, storm cell was rapidly closing in.

On lap 27, the rain started to come down again. It was that awful, drizzly rain that wet the track in some places, while leaving other areas completely dry. And that proved to be Chaz Mostert's undoing. He ran too wide at turn eight, clipped the wall, lost control and went sliding into the escape road at turn nine, where he missed the tyre wall and he ended up smashing into the concrete wall for a second time on the same side. The second impact stopped him abruptly, and it made everyone wince. After all, Chaz had only just recovered from the sickening accident he'd sustained at Bathurst the previous year.

"Yellow flags, Lightning, yellow flags," Tony informed him. "Safety car is being deployed."

"Copy. Is Chaz okay?"

"I'm not sure at this stage. He's talking to his crew, so that's a good sign. Stay out for now. We have some more rain on the way, so be prepared to come in again soon."

Two laps later, Craig and Lightning pitted for fuel and tyres. Lightning had to double-stack behind Craig, but he didn't mind. It was better than staying out on a wet track on hard tyres. Since Lightning hadn't used as much fuel as Tony would've like, they were only able to give him fifty litres. He still needed another twenty litres to complete the compulsory amount of fuel intake for the race. He was also changed over to wet tyres. Craig was also put onto wet tyres, but he took on less fuel.

A lap later, Shane pitted for his fuel and change over to wet tyres. Because of the pit stops, all of the Redbulldozer racers were now towards the back of the field, but they weren't worried, because most of those ahead of them still needed to pit.

The race was restarted on lap 33. Jamie decided to pit for his fuel and wet tyres, along with several others. And it was just as well he did, because only thirty seconds later, the rain started to bucket down again. At turn two on lap 34, Lightning received a decent whack on his right rear fender from another racer, but he managed to stop himself from spinning out in the wet conditions.

"Tony, I can't see a thing out here, and yes I have my headlights on full beam!" Lightning complained over the radio.

"Mate, there's nothing I can do about that," Tony replied. "Leyland's already asking the officials for the safety car to be brought out. Just keep going as best you can."

Sure enough, the rain was worse that it had been before. And then, things went from bad to worse. The entire pit lane suddenly lost power! The only technology still running were the laptops, which were now operating on battery power.

"Leyland, we've lost everything," Dutto immediately reported to the team boss as soon as the computers died. "We have no TV footage and very little telemetry. What are we going to do?"

Leyland quickly assessed the situation. The power was completely out in both garages, but luckily the radios still worked. He flicked the switch so he could talk to all four of his racers at once.

"Craig, Jamie, Shane and Lightning, we have just lost all power in pit lane. We cannot see what it's like out there now, and we have almost no data, so just keep doing your best. I've asked race control for the safety car to be deployed, but until it is, you'll need to be very careful out there. Don't take any risks."

Even while Leyland was still speaking, Courtney lost control in the downpour, and he slammed very hard into the wall at lap eight. The safety car was immediately deployed. Courtney had injured his steering in the collision, and he ended up 'crabbing' all the way back to the pits.

"This is ridiculous!" Lightning exclaimed to no one in particular. He was squinting just to be able to see, but the rain was so heavy he couldn't even see the taillights of the car ahead of him, let alone the walls. Luckily, with the safety car on the track, the spray soon died down and that enabled Lightning to see where he was going. To his surprise, he found himself directly behind Craig, who was in third. He was even more surprised to see Shane directly behind him! He was sandwiched between Craig and Shane at the front of the field!

 _How on earth did that happen?_ Lightning wondered as he weaved around in formation behind the safety car. He had no idea where Jamie was, and although he wanted to ask, he knew that with no power in pit lane, they probably didn't know either.

The rain was still pounding down. After a couple of laps behind the safety car, Tony spoke on the radio to Lightning.

"Race control is thinking of restarting the race after the next lap."

"They're mad!" Lightning exclaimed. "I can barely even see out here! Tell them not to restart the race! It's just far too dangerous!"

"I already have," Tony replied.

Lightning wasn't the only racer protesting race control's decision. Reluctantly, race control agreed to keep the safety car out for the time being. The rain was so bad now, that the helicopter taking overhead footage of the race had been forced to land. Many of the racers were even struggling to keep up with the safety car, even though it was only doing eighty kilometres an hour.

Shane and Lightning both pitted for a splash of fuel on lap 41, along with a few other racers who hadn't yet taken their compulsory fuel. Even though it dropped him well back in the field, Lightning was glad he'd completed that task. Racers who didn't take the compulsory amount of fuel would be heavily penalised, and he didn't want that. Towards the end of the lap, a rumble of thunder sounded, sending chills through Lightning's body. He was terrified of storms! To be racing in one was just about the worst possible situation for him.

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder sounded, and a bolt of lightning shot out of the sky, hitting one of the big screens dotted around the racetrack for the crowds to watch. The screen that had been hit immediately went out. A second later, the screen came back on with a message saying, 'Can't play. Please change channel.'

"Red flag, red flag," Tim Schenken announced over everyone's radios after seeing the lightning strike. "Safety car, you are to come into pit lane, lights on; field to follow it into pit lane and follow the rules for a suspended race. Safety car, you are to stop in the fast lane at the end of pit lane; all racers are to line up behind it."

Another lightning strike flashed overhead. Lightning whimpered as he followed the racer ahead of him into pit lane. Once all of the racers had stopped, their respective pit crews hurried over to them. They immediately began covering most of the racers with rain sheets. Lightning was shivering violently because he was so frightened by the storm. Dr Andrews hurried over to Lightning.

"Calm down," he gently soothed. He knew that it was vital to get Lightning's RPMs down, especially now that he was stationary. "You'll be okay. It's starting to clear now."

Sure enough, it was. Lightning took some deep breaths to try and calm himself some more. "Have we all done our fuel drop?" he asked.

"You have," one of the pit crew members replied. "The others haven't."

A few minutes later, the rain stopped completely. Then Tim Schenken made an announcement. "The race will restart in five minutes."

That announcement was greeted by a huge cheer from the crowd. Now that the rain had stopped, the rain sheets were removed from the racers. Lightning breathed a huge sigh of relief. It looked like the worst of the storm was over.

Finally, the race resumed behind the safety car, which brought a huge cheer from the crowd. Even the helicopter was able to return to the air. Lightning had no idea where he was placed anymore, but he really didn't care. This race was one he'd remember for the rest of his life, and all he wanted to do was finish in one piece.

On lap 44, most of the racers who hadn't received their compulsory fuel, pitted. Shane was amongst them. A lap later, the safety car left the track. The race had now been deemed 'time certain', which meant that it would end at a certain time, rather than after a certain number of laps. Because of that, there were now only five minutes left in the race.

The race restart was without incident, despite the track still being completely drenched. All of the racers took great care in the conditions, since it was obvious that the race would now be won based on the amount of fuel taken rather than position. On lap 46, Shane made a silly mistake, and he did a spectacular 360 degree spin on the final turn, which cost him a few places.

Jamie pitted on that lap for his compulsory fuel. Meanwhile, Ludo ordered Craig to use up as much fuel as he could, so he'd have room in his tank for them to give him his compulsory amount of fuel as well.

At the start of lap 48, Tim Schenken declared that this would be the final lap. Luckily, Craig managed to pit just in time for his fuel. That meant that all of the Redbulldozer racer had now taken the full compulsory amount of fuel, so they would not receive any penalties for that.

However, when the race ended, there was a lot of confusion over who'd actually won. Halfway through the victory lap, Percat was declared the winner, followed by Caruso and then Tander. When the Redbulldozer racers returned to the congested pits, Leyland had some big news for them. Even he looked stunned by it.

"Lightning has officially come in fourth place," he announced.

"What?" Shane exclaimed. "How? He must've cheated!"

Lightning's temper finally boiled over, and he slapped Shane's jaw as hard as he could with his tyre, sending a spray of water from it all over Shane.

"You had that coming, Shane van Gearsbergen!" Lightning spat. "I can tolerate most of the horrible things you say about me, but I draw the line at being called a cheater!"

Stunned, Shane backed away. He knew that this time, he'd pushed Lightning too far, and he didn't know what to do about it.

"Settle down, Speedster," Leyland soothed. "You've had a fantastic day today, so don't ruin it." He turned to Tony. "Great pit stop management today, Tony. You did really well, despite the appalling conditions."

"Thanks, Leyland."

"Right, we'll debrief properly tomorrow. In the meantime, let's get our racers settled down."

…

About half an hour later, three tired racers, their respective crew chiefs, Dutto and Leyland were gathered inside the Redbulldozer transporter. Unfortunately, due to the power outage, some of the data had been lost, so Dutto had manually downloaded as much as he could from Craig, Jamie, Lightning and Shane's on-board computers while they went through their post-race recovery. Now, they were about to analyse the 'lost' data.

Lightning still couldn't quite believe that, after everything that had happened, he'd managed to finish in fourth. Unfortunately, the other placings were still being determined, because of penalties and a number of post-race investigations. Even Jamie had been ordered before the Investigating Officer over a suspected rule breach during a yellow flag. That was why he was missing from this debrief.

"So, it seems like five racers didn't get their compulsory fuel," Leyland began. "They've been penalised by having sixty seconds added to their overall times."

"That seems a bit harsh," Grant muttered.

"At least we all managed to get that done," Leyland continued. "That was good management from you crew chiefs, so well done. Right, let's take a look at this data…"

Dutto brought up the 'lost' data on the main screen. Lightning tried hard to concentrate on what was being said, but he was so tired…

The sound of a door banging closed woke Lightning a few minutes later. Jamie had just returned from his post-race inquiry.

"What did they say?" Leyland asked him immediately.

"No breach of the rules," Jamie replied.

Leyland breathed a small sigh of relief. "That makes a nice change."

Jamie winced. He knew full well what Leyland meant by that.

Lightning yawned widely, and everyone looked at him. "Sorry," Lightning muttered sleepily.

"Can't we do this tomorrow, Leyland?" Craig asked. "We're all too exhausted to concentrate; some more than others."

Leyland nodded. "All right. We'll reconvene tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. Great work today, everyone. I'm proud of how well you all coped in such terrible conditions."

…

The following morning, the official results had finally been calculated, along with the points for the weekend. Lightning's fourth place stood, and after penalties, Shane officially finished in tenth, Craig in thirteenth and Jamie in sixteenth.

When it came to the overall points, Lightning was thrilled to see that Jamie was in second place with 207 points; Shane was in fourth on 197 points; Lightning was in seventh on 184 points, and poor Craig was in fourteenth on 153 points. Although there wasn't much between them in points, it was still a fantastic start to the year for the whole team.

 **Okay, I was not expecting this chapter to be this long, but so much happened that day, and it's been difficult to squeeze most of it in. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I've enjoyed writing it.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Just Add Lightning

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 10 – Just Add Lightning

 **Lightning and Sally's Mansion, Rochedale, Queensland – Monday, 14 March 2016.**

 _Through the darkness, Lightning saw the light from his headlights shining down on the tarmac he was racing on. Just ahead of him were the red tail lights of Francesco Bernoulli. Grinning, Lightning floored it as he attempted to overtake his rival._

 _Halfway up the home straight, Lightning was just about to overtake Francesco, when all of a sudden there was a loud 'Bang!', and then Lightning started drifting out of control across the racetrack. Turning sideways, he flipped over and then he began to roll. Over and over he went, with his breath being knocked out of him every time he hit the tarmac. Finally, he felt himself come to rest against something soft, and everything instantly went black…_

"Whoa!" Lightning exclaimed as he awoke abruptly. It was still night time. Groaning, Lightning glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was 2:17 in the morning.

Lightning slowly drew in a deep breath to try and calm his racing engine. After a moment, he snuggled closer to Sally. She moaned in her sleep.

"Stickers…" Sally muttered.

Lightning planted a loving kiss on Sally's fender. That woke her up.

"Sorry," Lightning apologised.

"It's okay. Why are you awake?"

"I had a nightmare…"

"What about?"

Lightning drew in a deep breath. "My accident."

"I thought you were over that? I mean, it's been a whole year since it happened!"

"I know, but it hasn't been that long since I remembered what actually happened. I'm going to get a drink. Do you want one?"

"No thanks."

Nodding, Lightning left the room. In the hallway, he switched on his headlights, so he could see where he was going without disturbing their servants, Mr Hood and Gracie, by switching on the house lights.

At the top of the ornate ramp that lead downstairs, Lightning paused. At the other end of the house were the servants' rooms, and the newly prepared nursery. Lightning slowly made his way down the hall to the nursery, and he entered the room.

They had nearly everything they needed for their baby. Lightning could scarcely believe that in about a month and a half, he and Sally would become parents. It was a surreal feeling for him. And, if he was honest with himself, he wasn't sure if he was ready to become a father yet. But despite his fears, there was no turning back now. Like all new fathers, he'd just have to learn.

Lightning lovingly brushed his tyre against the soft, white blanket that was already inside the cot. They'd chosen to have most of the baby's things in white, since they wouldn't know what gender it would be until it was built. Smiling, Lightning left the nursery, and he headed downstairs to the kitchen to get his drink.

…

As usual, the Redbulldozer team headquarters was already busy by the time Lightning arrived there later that morning. After letting Susan, the receptionist, know that he'd arrived, Lightning drove upstairs to the training room. Jamie was already in there, talking to Dutto and Davo about his performance at Adelaide.

Lightning drove over to the centre computer hub, where Tony was busy analysing data. "Morning, Tony."

"Morning Speedster." He frowned when he looked at Lightning. "You don't look like you had much sleep."

"I had a nightmare last night," Lightning admitted. He shrugged his fenders. "Guess I'm just a bit worried about racing at the Australian Grand Prix. After all, that's where I had my big crash last year."

"Of course, that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been so stupid," Dutto interjected as he drove over to them. Lightning cringed, and he looked sheepishly down at the ground.

"I'm going to do some sprint work with Lightning today," Tony told Dutto. "Hopefully, that should help him with his qualifying pace, which is what he needs now that his endurance levels are back up to where they used to be."

"Sounds like a good plan. I'll leave you to it then."

"Okay, Speedster," Tony said, turning to face Lightning. "Let's get started."

Once Lightning had been secured to his rolling road, he spent the first five minutes of his training session warming up. Tony then began connecting some extra sensors to Lightning's engine. Just as he'd finished, Shane and Craig showed up.

"Morning, everyone!" Craig said enthusiastically. "What am I doing today, Ludo?"

Lightning chuckled at his step-father's enthusiasm. It was great to see him so happy after everything he'd been through with his divorce.

"Lightning!" Tony snapped. "Pay attention, please! I asked you to go as fast as you can for the next ten minutes."

"Well, in that case, you'll have to disable my speed limiter," Lightning retorted.

"I meant, as fast as you can _with_ the speed limiter."

Sighing, Lightning floored it. The clamps holding his front wheels securely in place strained against the sudden force they were put under, but luckily they held. Lightning raced flat out for about ten minutes, until Tony indicated for him to stop. By then, the others had started their training sessions too, so the training room was exceptionally loud now with the roar of racing V8 engines, and the only way everyone could communicate with each other was via the radio.

During the morning's training session, Leyland came into the room to watch. Tony had Lightning racing flat out for ten minutes, then resting at a slower pace for five minutes, and then racing flat out again. It seemed to be working, because Lightning's sprint times were gradually improving.

After watching for a few minutes, Leyland drove over to Tony. Lightning saw them both talking, but he couldn't hear a word of what they were saying. However, Tony didn't look very pleased by what Leyland was saying. A few minutes later, Leyland left the room.

Once the morning's training session was over, the four racers made their way downstairs for lunch in the cafeteria.

"I can get your lunch, Lightning," Shane offered.

Lightning nearly dropped his tray in surprise. "Thanks, Shane, but I've got it."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't think Leyland would like to see his favourite racer carrying things."

Lightning sighed deeply and he rolled his eyes. "Give it up, Shane. I don't want to talk to you."

"Pity, because I have some racing tips that could really help you."

"Sure!" Lightning said sceptically. "The day you help me, you'll be six foot under."

"Why, you little…!"

"Guys!" Jamie interjected. "Cool it!"

"But he just insulted me!" Shane protested.

"'He' has a name, and it's Lightning," Craig added firmly. "And from what I heard, you were insulting him."

"I wasn't!" Shane protested. "He started it."

"Look, Shane, we've all had enough of you and your attitude around here," Jamie told him. "So you can either grow up, or shut up."

"Couldn't he do both?" Lightning muttered under his breath.

"Lightning?" Leyland called as he drove into the cafeteria. He paused when he saw the tension between his racers. "All right, what's going on here?"

"Nothing," Lightning, Craig and Jamie replied in unison.

"Lightning was insulting me," Shane whined.

"Well, even if he was, which I seriously doubt, I'm sure you thoroughly deserved it," Leyland replied evenly, making Shane gasp. Leyland decided to continue dressing down Shane in front of the others. "You have no one else to blame but yourself, because ever since you arrived here, you have made yourself very unpopular with the entire team because of your selfish, arrogant attitude. In fact, it's getting to the point where I might have to seriously reconsider our contract with you. You need to stop belittling the others and start acting like a team player."

"I tried to be nice to Lightning, but he lashed out at me," Shane muttered.

"Well, that's hardly surprising," Jamie said. "You've been so nasty to him, so why should you expect him to be nice to you? It works both ways, Shane."

Shane scowled, but he didn't bother replying. Leyland cleared his throat, and he turned to face Lightning. "After you've finished your lunch, I'd like you to come up to my office, please."

"Sure, Leyland," Lightning replied.

"There's a young lady from V8X magazine here, and she'd like to interview you," Leyland explained.

Lightning was surprised. "Me? Why me?"

"Because of the fourth place you won in Adelaide."

"But…"

"Don't question it, Lightning," Jamie interjected. "Enjoy it. If any of us came fourth, we wouldn't be newsworthy."

Lightning shrugged. Coming fourth was hardly worth an interview, so maybe she wanted to ask him about more than just that.

…

After lunch, Lightning went upstairs to Leyland's office. He found Leyland and Dutto in there, chatting to a little pale pink hatchback. She turned to face Lightning as he entered the room.

"Lightning, this is Kelly Osbourne," Leyland said. "She'd like to interview you."

Lightning parked at the end of Leyland's desk. "What would you like to ask me, Miss Osbourne?"

Kelly started a small recorder, which she then placed on the table in front of her. She glanced down at her notes.

"First of all, what were your impressions about Sunday's race at the Adelaide 500?"

"Well, I must say that it was the craziest race I've ever been in! You see, in the Piston Cup, whenever it rains during a race, it is immediately red flagged. I had a bit of a feel for racing in wet weather at last year's Bathurst 1000, but I've never even _driven_ in weather as bad as that, let alone raced in it!"

"Were you scared you might crash?"

"Not really… As a racer, you try not to think about crashing, because if that's what you think about, it's what will happen. Racing's all about taking risks and seeing just how far you can push yourself. I've pushed myself to my limits countless times before, and I've never regretted doing so."

"What was your reaction when you found out that you'd come fourth?"

"I must admit that I was very surprised. For most of that race, I had no idea where I was, and in the post-race confusion, I didn't want to get too excited by it until it had been officially confirmed. A lot of the really good guys were crashing out in that race, so it was really anyone's game by the time the red flag was called. In the end, it all came down to who was able to get the compulsory amount of fuel, and who could best stay off the wall."

"You're now seventh in the overall Championship. Do you think you'll be able to maintain, or even improve on that?"

"I sure hope so, but it's still very early in the season and, as we saw last year, anything can happen. I went into this season with the goal of finishing in the top ten in the Championship, and so far that goal hasn't changed."

"Okay, thank you, Lightning," Kelly said, ending the interview. "That's all I need to write up my article about you."

"Be sure you send me the proofs before the article is published," Leyland told her firmly.

"Of course, Mr Dane."

"Very good then. Dutto will show you out."

"I didn't say anything wrong, did I?" Lightning asked Leyland once Dutto and Kelly had gone.

"No, the answers you gave were perfectly acceptable for print," Leyland replied. "I just want to be sure the article is only about your racing. Sometimes, these reporters try to twist what you say to make it sound like you're confirming a rumour about yourself."

"Oh. I haven't had that happen to me yet."

"You've been lucky." Leyland softened, and he smiled kindly at Lightning. "When is your baby due again?"

"Just over a month."

"Are you excited?"

"Yes, but I'm also very nervous."

"That's perfectly natural, or so I've been told. Sometimes I regret not settling down to have a family, but then I remember that this team _is_ my family. I created Triple Eight Race Engineering from nothing, and now it's the most successful racing team both in Australia and Europe. My partner manages the European side of the business."

Lightning nodded slowly. "So, why did you chose to manage the Australian branch?"

"It's simple. I love the V8 Supercars. The first time I saw them race, I knew I wanted to manage a team in the series. I'd never seen anything like it before, and I was keen for a new challenge. I bought two pit licenses, and Craig was the first racer I signed up. He'd had a massive fallout with the Holden Racing Team, simply because he'd become bigger than what they were able to handle. He needed more than what they could supply to keep him at the top, so I jumped at the chance to have him on my team. Choosing the next racer wasn't as easy. Jamie came in for an interview with me one day. While he'd raced in the V8s before, he'd been without a team for a year, and I realised I couldn't let such potential talent go to waste. He was just a kid at the time, and nobody else could see the potential I saw in him. Even Dutto thought I was crazy signing him up, but he's since eaten his words many times over."

"And, why did you decide to sign me up?" Lightning asked quietly.

"Because I could see just how bored you were with winning all the time. You'd obviously outgrown the Piston Cup, so I wanted to introduce you to a type of racing where you could learn new skills while still maintaining the ones you already had. You're an incredibly talented racer, Lightning, and the V8s will only give you even more skills."

"So I found out in Adelaide," Lightning grinned. "I still don't know how I ended up in fourth, but I just hope I can continued to improve."

Leyland smiled. "That's all I want to hear. You can go now. Oh, and give my best to Sally."

"I will," Lightning promised, and he left the office.

…

Later that afternoon, with Leyland's approval, the article about Lightning was published online:

Just add Lightning

14/03/2016

By Kelly Osbourne

He impressed at the Adelaide 500 last weekend with a fourth place finish in torrential, stormy conditions on Sunday, but former Piston Cup star Lightning McQueen isn't moving the goal posts just yet.

The 28-year old kept it clean in what he described as the worst conditions he'd ever driven in, and surprised even himself with the near-podium finish. It was his first wet race in the Championship Series, and McQueen described it as "the craziest race I've ever been in".

He was happy enough just to finish in the conditions, let alone in fourth position. After the season opener, Lightning sits seventh in the Championship standings, but is still happy aiming for top 10 finishes in his first full-time season.

"I went into this season with the goal of finishing in the top ten in the Championship, and so far that goal hasn't changed." Lightning told V8X magazine.

"A lot of the really good guys were crashing out in that race, so it was really anyone's game by the time the red flag was called. In the end, it all came down to who was able to get the compulsory amount of fuel, and who was able to best stay off the wall." McQueen said of Sunday's race.

McQueen caught Triple Eight Race Engineering's team owner, Leyland Dane's eye about eighteen months ago, while racing in the American Piston Cup Series, and has been contracted to the team since 2015.

Lightning made no secret of how difficult the step up to main game was after spending last year getting a feel for the V8 Supercars by racing in the Development Series, but at the Adelaide 500, he's proved he is deserving of the opportunity. Days later, he's still thrilled about Sunday's finish.

Not only did he perform well in the race, he also qualified for his first Top 10 Shootout, finishing ninth after each car's solo lap around the Adelaide street circuit.

"I must admit that I was very surprised. For most of that race, I had no idea where I was, and in the post-race confusion, I didn't want to get too excited by it until it had been officially confirmed."

The Championship Series continues this weekend with the non-Championship round at Albert Park as part of the support races for the Australian Grand Prix.

 **Thank you so much for your reviews everyone! I am trying to include more moments between Lightning and Sally, and with the baby almost here, I'm sure I'll be able to fit in some more scenes with them together.**

 **I'm also considering having Lightning and Shane have a physical fight to sort out their differences once and for all, but I'm not too sure about it, since I've been slowly trying to develop Lighting's maturity as he grows older. Please remember that Shane is 2 years younger than Lightning, so I'm not too sure about how such a fight would go down. As I said, I'm only toying with the idea at this stage. Yes, I've portrayed Shane as a little bit racist, but I can promise you that in reality he isn't. I just needed another antagonist in the story, and since he's the new guy on the team, he fit the bill.**

 **Please, keep the reviews coming. They really do help keep me motivated to write more.**


	11. Chapter 11 - Day 1 at the AGP

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 11 – Day 1 at the Australian Grand Prix

 **Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park - Melbourne, Victoria – Thursday, 17** **th** **March, 2016**

"That's it, Lightning!" Tony shouted over the radio. "Keep pushing! Your split times are fantastic right now!"

It was the second practice session for the V8 Supercars at the Australian Grand Prix, and Lightning was doing much better than he had in the first practice session, where he'd finished in fifteenth. To his great annoyance, Shane had come in second place, while Craig and Jamie had come in seventh and eleventh respectively. This time, however, Lightning was determined to prove to Shane that he wasn't just a one-shot wonder. Sure, what had happened in Adelaide had been a fluke. Ironically, if it hadn't been for the lightning storm, he wouldn't be sitting in seventh in the Championship right now.

In many ways, he was lucky the four V8 Supercar sprint races at the Australian Grand Prix were non-Championship support races. If things had to go wrong at any time during the racing calendar, you'd want it to happen at the Australian Grand Prix.

But so far for the entire Redbulldozer Racing team, things were going right. Lightning finished the second practice session in fifth place, with a time three seconds faster than the first practice session. Unfortunately, Shane still managed to beat him, getting second place again. Jamie finished tenth, and Craig finished in eleventh. But they were only practices. The qualifying session later that afternoon was what counted most for Lightning. Tony had really been pushing him hard during training, but no matter how well Lightning performed in the training room, he was finding it harder and harder to produce the same results out on the racetrack.

"I just don't understand where I'm going wrong," Lightning complained to Tony during their post-practice debrief. "According to the results I've been producing in training, I should be consistently in the top three!"

"I'll tell you where you're going wrong," Leyland said, interjecting before Tony could answer. The team boss parked directly in front of the young racer. "I've been watching you closely during training, and when you're at the racetrack, and I think I've worked it out."

"What then?" Lightning asked quietly.

"Last year, when you were in the Development Series, you won because your only competition was Paul. And you didn't listen to the doubters, because you knew you were better than the other racers. This year, I can see that Shane has really rattled you. Being in the Championship Series has really shaken your confidence too, because, subconsciously, you're aware of just how tough the competition really is."

Lightning stared down at the ground, unable to think of what to say. Hearing Leyland explain everything so clearly made him realise that what he said was true. He did feel intimidated by the competition. Lightning sniffled softly. Now, he wished Sally had come with him, but she'd stayed home in Brisbane in case their baby was built prematurely. That was a shame, because he really needed a hug from her.

Seeing that Lightning was about to burst into tears, Craig quickly went over to him, and he pulled his stepson into a tight embrace.

"It's okay, Lightning," he whispered. "Go ahead and cry. I can promise you, it is not a sign of weakness."

"Shane wouldn't think so," Lightning muttered as a tear fell from his eyes.

"Who gives a damn about what Shane thinks!" Craig exclaimed. "That guy has more loose screws than you've had oil changes!"

Lightning had to laugh in spite of himself. Craig gently eased out of the hug, and he looked proudly at him.

"Honestly, Lightning, there's no pressure for you to win. I know it seems that it's all Leyland cares about…"

"Hey!" Leyland snapped. But then he smiled too.

"…but seriously, the fact that you're racing in the Championship Series means that you've already won. Don't give up yet."

"I won't," Lightning promised.

"Good. Now, let's focus on qualifying. You can do this."

…

However, despite giving it his absolute best, Lightning only managed to qualify in eleventh. He was bitterly disappointed because his teammates had all qualified ahead of him. In fact, Jamie even got pole position on the grid.

"I can't do this, Tony!" Lightning exclaimed back in the pits. "Every time I think I'm doing really well, it turns out that I'm only mid-field, which is average! Let's face it. I will never be good enough to win in the V8s! I might as well pack up and go back to America. At least I won everything over there!"

Turning his back on Lightning, Tony began analysing Lightning's data. Lightning stamped his tyre on the concrete floor furiously.

"Didn't you hear me?" he demanded.

"Yeah, I heard you," Tony said quietly without looking up.

"Well?"

Tony exhaled deeply before finally looking up at the angry racer. "You won't quit, Lightning, for two reasons. One, you're under contract until the end of the season, and two, your anger shows just how passionate you are about what you do. You want to win so badly, and you're so used to it that you don't know what to do with yourself when you don't perform as well as you expected to."

Lightning opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Instead, his spun around before racing out of the pit garage. He drove straight into Craig, who was just about to enter.

"Whoa! And just where do you think you're going, son?" Craig asked him kindly.

Tears were flowing freely out of Lightning's eyes. "I can't do this anymore, Craig! I know I promised I wouldn't, but I just want to quit and go back to the Piston Cup!"

"Hmm… I see… You know what? I was going to have dinner with your mother, but I think it's time we had some father-son time. What do you say?"

"Okay," Lightning agreed, but his voice was shaking.

"That's it," Craig soothed. "Just take some deep breaths and calm down. I'll call your mother to let her know what's going on."

Minutes later, Lightning meekly followed Craig out of Albert Park. Near the gate, a familiar Formula One racer was talking to the media.

"Of course Francesco is-a going to win! Francesco always-a wins. You should-a know that by now."

"But, didn't Lewis Hamilton beat you here last year?" a reporter asked.

"Err…" Francesco faltered. Then he saw Lightning. "Excuse-a me! Francesco needs to-a go. Grazie!"

Lightning exhaled heavily when he saw Francesco coming over to him.

"Hey-a McQueen! Francesco was-a hoping he'd see you again this-a year. How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess," Lightning sighed despondently. "Oh, this is my step-father, Craig Louds. Craig, this is Francesco Bernoulli. I don't know if you remember him from last year…"

"Ciao, Louds! I've-a seen you race. You're-a very talented."

"Grazie, Francesco. Ho visto è corsa molto troppo (I've seen you race a lot too)."

Both Lightning's and Francesco's jaws hit the ground simultaniously.

"I didn't know you could speak Italian!" Lightning exclaimed.

Craig chuckled. "I did some of my early race training in Europe. I'm not fluent, but I know enough to get by."

"È sorpreso Francesco! Francesco non è mai sorpreso! (You surprised Francesco! Francesco is never surprised!"

"Scusate. Stiamo andando ora. E 'stato bello rivederti. (Sorry. We're going now. It was nice to see you again). Let's go, Lightning." And Craig continued towards the gate.

"See you around, Francesco," Lightning added as he hurried after Craig.

"Ciao!"

"So, where are we going?" Lightning asked Craig after they'd been driving for a few minutes.

"To the other side of the city," Craig replied mysteriously. "We'll talk when we get there."

About half an hour later, just after six o'clock in the evening, Craig and Lightning arrived at another racetrack. Lightning paused at the racetrack's entrance, so he could read the sign. Owing to daylight saving, the sun wouldn't set until about eight-thirty, so there was still plenty of daylight.

"Calder Park Raceway," Lightning read aloud. "Hey, isn't this the place where you had your big wreck? Craig?"

But Craig wasn't listening to Lightning. He was already entering the raceway precinct. Lightning quickly followed after him.

As expected, the raceway was more-or-less deserted, but it was obviously still very well maintained. Craig and Lightning drove up into one of the grandstands, so they could get a good view of the main racetrack.

"They use this place mainly for drag-racing and legal off-street racing these days," Craig explained as they parked in the grandstand. "I doubt the V8s will ever use it again, which is sad, because I have some fond memories of this place."

"Why? You crashed here, didn't you?"

"Yup! Right down there, near the start line. I still remember rolling over and over… The doctors were amazed that the only serious injury I sustained was my twisted front left axle. And the concussion, of course. I'd won here the year before, but coming back here for the first time after my wreck was really hard. I didn't do very well, but I at least finished, and I earned a handful of points. I ended up coming third in the Championship which, given everything I went through, I was very proud of. Guess what I'm trying to say to you is that, yes, there will be plenty of days when all you want to do is quit, but once you've had time to calm down, you realise that what's happened really wasn't that bad. Peter Brock's most famous saying was, 'Bite off more than you can chew, and then chew some more'. He was right, of course. Peter was always right… That's why we all called him 'Peter Perfect'."

There was silence for a few minutes while Craig and Lightning sat and reflected on their respective mentors.

"Tell me something," Craig finally said, breaking the silence. "What would Doc have said if you'd told him that you wanted to quit racing in the V8s?"

Lightning remained silent while he thought about Doc. Finally, he answered Craig's question. "I guess he'd say something like, 'You wanted a challenge, and that's what you've got, so what are you going to do with it?'"

Craig smiled fondly at his stepson. "So, what are you going to do with it? Before you answer that question, I have something else I want to show you…"

Craig left the grandstand, and Lightning followed him. A few minutes later, Lightning gasped with astonishment as he followed Craig onto the tarmac of a huge 1.8 kilometre oval speedway.

"Whoa! This is a..."

"A Piston Cup speedway," Craig finished, smiling his characteristic cheeky grin. "Although, technically, this is, or rather, was an AUSCAR speedway. It's called the Thunderdome, and for good reason. The sound of dozens of V8 engines racing here was incredible! Go ahead. I can tell that you're feeling homesick, which is why you said you want to go back to the Piston Cup, so let's see you get it out of your system. Then, perhaps, you'll be able to race strongly tomorrow."

"But, I'll be too tired!"

"No excuses! I want to see you do fifty laps before we leave tonight."

"What's the lap record?" Lightning asked, grinning excitedly now.

"Unofficially, it's twenty-eight point two seconds, but thirty-two seconds was the average for AUSCAR racers."

Lightning nodded. "Guess my speed limiter will only add to the challenge…" he revved his engine aggressively.

"Hurry up!" Craig snapped, teasingly.

Lightning floored it, sending up a cloud of smoke from his rear tyres. On his first lap, he adjusted his anti-rollbars to suit the twenty-four degree banks of the speedway, and then he went for it, racing as fast as he could. It was so refreshing to be able to race flat out, without having to worry about slowing down for tight corners, chicanes or concrete walls.

Craig watched Lightning race around the banked speedway from the grassy infield. He was holding a stopwatch in his tyre. Lightning was setting a very fast pace, but he knew it was nowhere near as fast as what Lightning could do. There was just one fact he hadn't told Lightning – the Thunderdome was the fastest racetrack in Australia.

As Lightning completed another lap, Craig glanced down at his stop watch, and smiled. Lightning had just completed the lap in thirty-one seconds. That was good enough for him.

Finally, Lightning finished his fifty laps. After doing a few warm-down laps, he joined Craig in the infield. He was breathing heavily, but he didn't look tired at all. In fact, he looked like he could easily do another two-hundred laps.

"So? How did I do?" Lightning asked eagerly.

"Your best lap was twenty-nine point three seconds. I'm sure you'd be able to easily set an official lap record without your speed limiter. So, back to the question I asked you before. What are you going to do? Are you going to go back to America where you won every single race even though it was boring, or are you going to stick with the challenge that is the V8s?"

Lightning glanced around at the Speedway that surrounded himself and Craig. In his mind's eye, he could see the grandstands packed with spectators, and he could hear the roar of the crowd as they all cheered loudly for him. Then he looked at Craig.

"Leyland always says that there's no silver bullet in the V8s, right?"

Craig nodded.

"I'm going to stay then," Lightning said, giving Craig his answer. "At least, until my contract with the team runs out. I really haven't given the V8s a fair chance. I knew I couldn't expect to win right from the start, even if that's what I wanted to do. This…" he gestured to the speedway around them. "…I left this because I wanted a fresh start. I didn't come here to prove that I could race in different racing codes. I came here to re-awaken my passion for racing. So, that's what I'll focus on from now on."

"And you will, if you keep reminding yourself of that fact," Craig replied. "Come on, now. Everyone will be wondering where we are, and it's getting late."

"Yeah," Lightning agreed. "Oh, and Craig?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. I really mean that."

Craig smiled again. "Hey, if you ever start feeling homesick again, just let me know, okay? We can always come back here, and there's another oval speedway in Adelaide."

"Now you tell me!" Lightning groaned. "We were there only a few weeks ago!"

"I know. But, seriously Lightning, it won't be long before you'll have to make a decision about your racing future. You won't be able to keep jumping between racing codes. You'll have to choose either the Piston Cup or the V8s."

"I know. But you have no idea how hard it is for me to make that decision…"

"There's still time, but Leyland will need to know soon. Let's go now."

 **Hey everyone! I am so sorry I've taken so long to update. I had a big horse show yesterday, so I've spent the last few weeks focusing on preparing for that instead of working on my stories. So, to make up for that, I'm going to do everything I can to update this story as much as possible over the next week or so. Thank you so much for your patience! I really hope it was worth it. Please let me know!**

 **Oh, and in case anyone asks, I won 5 second places at the horse show, despite the heavy rain that fell all day. Now I know how the V8 drivers must have felt trying to race in the storm during race 3 at Adelaide. I even had pools of water in my riding boots, lol, and everything was soaked! I'm surprised I haven't caught a cold yet, because it was freezing too! So proud of my pony though. He did well once he'd settled down.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Day 2 at the AGP

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 12 – Day 2 at the Australian Grand Prix

 **Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park - Melbourne, Victoria – Friday, 18** **th** **March, 2016**

"Oh, please don't rain again!" Lightning grumbled as he, Craig and Jamie entered the Redbulldozer pit garage the following morning. A light misty rain was already falling, but everyone was hoping that it wouldn't get any heavier.

"Right, everyone, listen up!" Leyland shouted, getting everyone's attention. "The weather bureau is showing that this drizzle should clear up before our first race, so I'll be sending you all out on the required soft tyres. Also, we're going to be doing a rolling start for the very first time at this track, so that should make things interesting."

Lightning scoffed quietly. Rolling starts were nothing new to him. After his conversation with Craig the evening before, Lightning's aim for the races this weekend was to finish in the top ten. Since he was starting from eleventh, it was a realistic achievement for him.

An official peeked inside the pit garage. "Ten minutes, Leyland!" he announced.

"Okay, let's get you lot over to the racetrack," Leyland said, acknowledging the official.

Because the V8s were only doing non-Championship support races at the Australian Grand Prix, their pit garages were behind pit row, so they had to enter the racetrack via a side entrance. Lightning fell into eleventh place as the field of V8 Supercar racers drove onto the racetrack behind the safety car. Since the Formula One racers had just had their first practice session, the grandstands were completely packed with racing fans. Lightning grinned as he passed a R.S.N. camera. He knew that footage of the whole weekend of racing was being beamed live across the world. There were media teams from all around the world, who were keen not to miss any of the action. After all, this weekend was the first racing weekend for the 2016 Formula One Grand Prix.

Up in the media box, Darrell Cartrip was parked in front of a different R.S.N. camera, waiting for his cue.

"Going live in five," the director said.

As soon as Darrell was given his cue, he began speaking. "Welcome back to our live coverage of the Australian Grand Prix! Today, we've already seen the Formula One racers have their first practice session on the track, and now we're about to watch the first race of the weekend for the Australian V8 Supercars Series. Now, this is a non-Championship event for the V8s, so there aren't any Championship points on offer, but the racer who wins the most points over the whole weekend will be declared the overall winner. There are four twelve-lap races for the V8s this weekend, and they're all being run on soft tyres for the very first time, so tyres management will be critical. They're also trialling a rolling start for the V8s this weekend, so the start is going to be very interesting. Now, I know everyone is going to be asking about our favourite American racer, Lightning McQueen. Yesterday, he performed reasonably okay, and he ended up qualifying in eleventh for today's first race. That's good, but since the rest of the races will be started in the order of finish from the previous race, Lightning really needs to finish in the top ten if he's going to have any chance this weekend. It looks like the racers are starting to fall into formation for the start, so let's go live to our cameras down on the grid."

As the field of racers entered the home straight, Lightning kept his eyes focused on the lights. As soon as they went out, the racers surged forwards. To everyone's surprise, the rolling start went smoothly without any incidents. By turn one, Jamie had managed to put a bit of a gap between himself and Shane, who'd moved into second place.

At turn eleven on the first lap, Coulthard gave Frosty a hard shunt from behind, resulting in the 2015 Champion being spun. Fuming, Frosty return to the track in last place. Things seemed to settle down until lap three when Todd Kelly suffered engine trouble on the home straight. He pulled over to the side after sending a huge spray of smoke all over the track. Luckily, he'd been behind Lightning at the time, so Lightning didn't gag on the fumes, unlike some of the more unfortunate racers towards the back of the field, including Frosty. However, he'd lost a spot at the start and was now back in twelfth place.

"Safety car is being deployed, Lightning," Tony informed him.

"Copy that," Lightning replied, slowing down.

During the safety car period, the sun came out. Lightning couldn't contain his smile as the sun's warm rays hit him. It was as if his father and Doc were both reaching down to him and saying in unison, 'It's okay, son. You can do this.'

The rolling restart came on lap five. Craig didn't have the best restart, and he ended up dropping from fifth back to ninth. However, Lightning's restart was brilliant, and he ended up in tenth, directly behind his step-father. Lightning couldn't contain his grin when he saw Craig trying to get away from him. Obviously, Craig had seen Lightning coming in his rear view mirrors. But Lightning wasn't about to make things easy for him, and he stuck right behind Craig's rear bumper.

Meanwhile, up ahead, Jamie and Shane were having their own battle. Unfortunately for Jamie, he accidentally made an error at turn thirteen, which sent him momentarily into the dirt. Shane hesitated. He wasn't sure what Leyland would say if he overtook Jamie, but there was plenty of room to pass, so Shane went for it. Seething, Jamie fell in behind Shane.

"Sorry, Davo," Jamie apologised over the radio.

"Focus, Jamie," Davo admonished. "You did that yourself, because you let Shane intimidate you. Stay with him."

By lap seven, Lightning had dropped back a bit. High winds were blowing in from the bay, making it very difficult for him to maintain a straight racing line at speed. Two laps later, he saw Craig overtake McLaughlin. Sighing with frustration, Lightning fell into McLaughlin's slip stream. At least he was now in the top ten, which was what he wanted.

For the rest of the race, Lightning remained sandwiched between McLaughlin and Caruso. Every now and again, Caruso would try to overtake Lightning, but Lightning always managed to block him. Lightning also made several attempts to overtake McLaughlin, but he was always blocked too. It was obvious to anyone watching that Lightning was just as good as those two, if not better.

On lap eleven, race control declared that, owing to time restraints, this would be the final lap. With that in mind, Lightning made one final attempt to overtake McLaughlin, while Caruso also attempted to overtake Lightning. The battle between the three of them was so fierce that nobody cared what was going on with the leaders. The main action was the fight for ninth, tenth and eleventh place.

As the battle pack entered the home straight, Lightning threw himself into high gear in one last attempt to overtake McLaughlin. Caruso was left behind, but Lightning didn't even notice. Lightning darted to the right, drawing up alongside McLaughlin. By now, the crowd was cheering and screaming loudly, but Lightning barely heard them. With the finish line fast approaching, he gave it everything he had.

McLaughlin beat him by a bonnet length. But nobody seemed to care. Everyone was screaming and shouting at once, but none of it made any sense to Lightning. Finally, he heard the soothing calmness of Leyland's voice over the radio.

"Great work, Speedster! I'm so proud of you for not giving up."

"Thanks, Leyland," Lightning panted. "I wanted that top ten so badly."

"I know. And you got it! Well done."

After the warm down lap had been completed, the V8 Supercars were ushered off the racetrack by several officials. As they made their way back to the pit garages, hundreds of racing fans lined the route to cheer for the V8 racers. To everyone's surprise, they saved their biggest cheers for Lightning.

"We love you, Lightning!" some teenage girls shouted.

"You were amazing out there today!" someone else called.

"I want your autograph, please!"

Lightning was about to stop to comply with the request, but an official shook his front.

"No autographs now! There are allotted times for that tomorrow," the official told the crowd.

Back in the Redbulldozer pit garage, Craig hugged Lightning tightly. "I knew you wouldn't give up. I don't know what happened back there, but whatever it was, it must have been amazing!"

Lightning's cheeks flushed at the praise. "I don't get it. I mean, I only finished tenth!"

"You put on a huge show, Lightning," Dutto explained as he drove over to them. "That's what the crowd love to see. I think you've won the Australian fans over."

Lightning's eyes widened excitedly. "Really? That's fantastic! Where did the others come?"

"Shane won, and Jamie came in a close second. Craig came seventh."

"Well done, Craig," Lightning said.

"Thanks. We all did a great job. Now, let's focus on the next race."

…

A few hours later, the V8 Supercars returned to the racetrack for their second race of the day. As they fell into formation for the warm-up lap, Lightning glanced in his rear view mirrors at Caruso, who was starting behind him. Given the fact that Caruso and McLaughlin, who was ahead of him, had pushed him so hard during the first race, Lightning knew that he'd have to have a brilliant start to maintain his top ten position.

Normally, the crowd would be starting to go home by now, since it was six-twenty in the evening, but the majority had obviously decided to stay to watch Lightning race. They wanted to see more action, and Lightning was determined to give it to them.

As soon as the lights went out, the field spread out across the width of the track. Lightning accelerated quickly, but before they'd even reached turn one, he was being bumped around from both sides. He couldn't see who was at fault, but he focused on maintaining the racing line; refusing to back down. One car was spun around at turn one as a result of that scuffle in the battle pack, but Lightning didn't even notice. He was too busy trying to stop Caruso from overtaking him on the outside. Someone else was on his left. A glimpse in his rear view mirror told him it was a Holden Racing team racer – probably Slade.

Caruso gave Lightning another nasty bump from behind, which sent Lightning wide at one turn. "Tony, they're really giving me a belting out here," Lightning complained to his crew chief over the radio.

"They've marked you, that's why," Tony replied. "Try to get clear of them."

Lightning grimaced. Being a marked car was never fun, but it was a positive sign. It meant that the other racers now saw him as a serious threat. Gritting his teeth, Lightning accelerated again.

Slade was now the one putting pressure on Lightning. Meanwhile, at the front of the race, Jamie was breathing right down Shane's rear bumper.

By the end of lap one, Lightning had managed to create a bit of breathing room for himself. As they entered the home straight, Lightning saw Pye ahead of him, slowing down. He had nowhere to go except to take the wide line and go around Pye to avoid hitting him. He dropped back into the field in eighth place being Courtney. At turn one, Pye went off. He'd lost brake pressure and therefore he'd been unable to pull up in time for the corner.

Craig had now moved up into fifth, while Jamie had backed off a bit from Shane. It was obvious that the racers had decided to settle down a bit and focus on racing instead of playing dodgem cars.

A lap later, McLaughlin pulled a sneaky overtaking move on Lightning, surprising him. "Oh, no you don't!" Lightning muttered under his breath as he moved into McLaughlin's slip stream.

By lap four, Craig was sitting comfortably in fifth right behind the leaders, waiting for one of them to make a mistake so he could slip past them.

Sure enough, but lap eight, Craig had managed to make his move and he was now sitting in third place being Shane and Jamie. Lightning was still in ninth place, waiting to make his next move. However, he was fast running out of time.

Seeing an opportunity to overtake Slade, who was in front of him, Lightning made a dive on the inside, but he was immediately blocked. Swerving to avoid running up the back of Slade, Lightning ducked to the left. But he moved too fast and too hard, and he ended up brushing the outside concrete wall. He winced as the concrete scrapped his thin paintwork, exposing the bare metal underneath. By the time he'd managed to recover, he'd dropped back to thirteenth, directly behind Frosty.

"Are you okay, mate?" Tony asked with concern on the radio.

"I think so," Lightning whispered. "That was my fault entirely. I pushed too hard."

"Hey, nothing tried, nothing gained, right?"

"Right."

"Come on. Pull yourself together. There's still four laps to go. You can do this."

Nodding slightly, Lightning accelerated. If he couldn't finish in the top ten, he could at least try and finish ahead of Frosty. Motivated by his new challenge, Lightning dug in deeper to try and catch Frosty.

The battle was really on at the front of the field, this time between Jamie and Craig. Even though Craig was clearly faster than Jamie today, Jamie would not let him get past. And so, the two of them were battling fiercely. Unusually, there wasn't much radio chatter happening from either of the Redbulldozer pit garages. Obviously, Dutto had decided to keep the crew chiefs quiet, and let the racers fight it out amongst themselves.

On the final lap, Craig finally made his move, and he overtook Jamie much to the delight of the crowd. Now that Craig was in second place, with plenty of clear road ahead of him, he began to pull away from Jamie.

Seconds later, it was all over. Shane won again by a huge margin, followed by Craig and then Jamie. Lightning only just managed to hang on to thirteenth place.

"Well done, everyone!" Leyland praised as his racers filed inside the pit garages. "I'm so proud of you all!"

Lightning drove over to Tony. "Sorry I screwed up," he said despondently.

"We all make mistakes, Lightning. You did very well to recover. How's your side feeling now?" Tony moved around Lightning to take a look. He winced in sympathy when he saw all the scratches and missing paintwork. "Yeah, you've done a nasty job there. Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore," Lightning replied.

Leyland, Dutto and Dr Andrews also came to take a look.

"Those scratches should heal up overnight," Dr Andrews said. "Especially if we get a fresh coat of paint over them as soon as possible. It will sting a lot though, Lightning."

"I can live with that."

"Okay, I'll get the paint boys onto that now. We'll have to repaint your entire side I'm afraid."

Lightning just shrugged in reply, and he closed his eyes. He was feeling really tired now. Just then, his phone rang. Groaning, he answered it.

"Hello?"

" _Hey Stickers!_ " Sally's cheery voice replied. " _I saw your races today. Are you okay after that brush with the wall?_ "

"I think so. The boys are just fixing me up now. I feel really bad for screwing up like that."

" _Don't. You made a bold move, and this time it didn't pay off, sadly. I'll let you go so you can recover. Talk to you again later tonight, okay?_ "

"Sure. I love you, Sal."

" _Love you too, Stickers._ "

Before long, two of the pit crew members had started to strip the paint from Lightning's left hand side in order to begin repainting him. They were halfway through striping the paint when Elinor and Francesco arrived.

"Hi, mum," Lightning said in greeting. "Francesco."

"Is he okay?" Elinor asked Dr Andrews anxiously.

"Absolutely," Dr Andrews assured her. "It was just a graze, but he badly damaged his paintwork, so we're just going to repaint him."

Elinor breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Then she turned on her son. "Don't scare me like that! I was sure you were going to crash!"

"Sorry, mum… It was my own stupid fault. I'll be more careful tomorrow."

"You'd better!" Elinor scolded. Then she planted a kiss on Lightning's fender.

Once Elinor had gone to talk to Craig, Lightning spoke to Francesco. "Feeling homesick?"

"What?"

"Well, I mean, I'm racing in familiar territory and my mother is here with me. You missing your own mother?"

Francesco chuckled when he realised what Lightning was driving at. "Touché, McQueen! You know-a what? Tomorrow, they're-a having a speed demonstration. Francesco is-a of course going in-a it, but I've-a spoken to the officials, and I've-a suggested that maybe you could represent the V8 Supercars."

Lightning was surprised. "What, me?"

"Si."

"But, I'm hardly the fastest V8 Supercar here this weekend."

"That doesn't-a matter. It's a time handicap."

Lightning still looked uncertain. Then Leyland drove over to him.

"Ah, Lightning! Have you heard about the speed comparison scheduled for tomorrow?"

"Francesco was just telling me about it."

"Well, after your performance this morning, it seems that the majority want you to go in it. And, I'm happy for you to do it, if you want to."

Lightning turned to Francesco. "You just want to race me again, don't you?"

Francesco shrugged. "Maybe."

"In that case, yes, I'll do it. I can't wait to beat you again!"

"Oh no, no, no, no! Francesco will-a see you at-a the finish line, McQueen!" Francesco retorted.

Leyland groaned, and he rolled his eyes. At least, since this was an official race, it would be heavily controlled. He'd just have to hope for the best.


	13. Chapter 13 - Day 3 at the AGP

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 13 – Day 3 at the Australian Grand Prix

 **Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Albert Park - Melbourne, Victoria – Saturday, 19** **th** **March, 2016**

"Okay, here we go," Lightning whispered to himself as he followed Frosty around the track during the formation lap for race three. Even though he was starting from thirteenth place, he was feeling very confident today. Having a good night's sleep had really helped him a lot.

During the formation lap, Lightning saw smoke start billowing from Todd Kelly's engine again. Clearly weakened, Todd pulled over to the edge of the racetrack, and he began to slowly limp back to the pits.

At the start of the home straight, the racers began to form into double formation as they approached the start line. Shane and Craig were alongside each other at the front of the grid. They eyed each other as they maintained sixty kilometres an hour for the rolling start.

"I am going to make you pay for everything you've said and done to Lightning since you joined this team," Craig told Shane sternly.

Shane scoffed. "Yeah, right!"

The lights went out, and the field surged forwards. Shane was so busy trying to stay ahead of Craig, that he failed to see Jamie sneaking up around him on his outside. Unfortunately, Jamie didn't quiet have enough pace, and as they entered turn one, Shane held on to his lead, leaving Craig to drop back into second behind him and Jamie fell into third. At turn three, Craig decided to remind Shane that he was right behind him by giving the cocky young racer a tiny nudge. For a second, Shane lost control and almost ran off the track, but he just managed to save himself. During that moment, Jamie took the opportunity to pounce, and as the field emerged around turn four, Jamie had snatched the lead from Shane, leaving Craig now in third place. Craig was happy it had ended that way. Having Shane sandwiched between them both was a good thing in his opinion. It'd help keep Shane in check.

A lap later, Shane attempted to make a move on Jamie, but Jamie wasn't having any of it, and he gave Shane a sideways bump.

"Get back!" Jamie snapped. "You don't deserve to win with your attitude!"

Seeing the battle going on ahead of him, Craig moved up so that he was racing alongside his teammates. Together, the three of them took up the entire width of the racetrack.

"Shane! You have to yield!" Craig ordered.

"I don't take orders from has-beens!" Shane retorted furiously.

Just then, they all heard Leyland on the radio. "Shane, Craig and Jamie! Stop this foolishness at once! Shane! Yield to Jamie now!"

"Jamie broke one of my headlights!" Shane complained over the radio.

"SHANE VAN GEARSBERGEN! I saw and heard everything, and I'm ordering you to yield! NOW!"

Reluctantly, Shane slowed down a fraction. Craig stayed right behind Jamie, forcing Shane to drop back into third.

Meanwhile, Lightning had settled back comfortably in fifteenth position. He'd been bumped around a bit again at the start of the race, and now he was just trying to maintain his position in order to set himself up to overtake those ahead of him later in the race.

At the start of lap three, Shane overtook Craig cleanly down the home straight. Craig decided not to go after him. If Shane was that desperate to win a non-Championship race, then so be it. He wasn't about to risk getting another injury battling with his arrogant teammate. Besides, another drizzle had just started, and that only added to the pressure everyone was under now.

Towards the end of lap three, Lightning made his move on Pither, easily overtaking his former Development Series rival and moving into fourteenth. Unfortunately, the rain was now coming down much harder now, but since Lightning's tyres were nice and warm, he still had plenty of grip as long as he stayed on the racing line.

By lap five, Lightning found himself leading the second battle pack of racers. He had about a second's worth of clear space ahead of him, and then about ten other racers all lined up, following along behind him. Lightning chuckled to himself as he accelerated and began to draw away from the second battle pack. He wanted to be with the first battle pack, who were trying to chase down his teammates.

A lap later, Lightning found himself behind Will Drivinson, at the back of the first battle pack. At the second last corner, Lightning decided to try and overtake Will, but as he went off the racing line, his tyres slipped on the wet track and he shot forwards, slamming into Will from behind.

"Ooff!" Will exclaimed as the breath was knocked out of him.

Lightning watched helplessly as Will went spinning around in front of him. "Sorry!" Lightning shouted, as he continued racing past. Feeling terrible, Lightning got on his radio. "Tony? Could you please tell Will's crew chief that I'm sorry about what just happened? I honestly didn't mean to hit him!"

"I'll do that," Tony promised.

However, despite Lightning's remorse and apology, a lap later, he was officially given a black flag for bad sportsmanship. As soon as the crowd found out about that, the 'boos' started. They weren't booing Lightning; they were booing the officials.

"Lightning, race control have given you a pit lane drive through penalty," Tony informed him.

Tears pricked Lightning's eyes, mixing with the rain. That was it then. His weekend was over. There was no way he'd be able to recover from the pit lane drive through penalty to finish in the top ten. Feeling absolutely gutted, Lightning backed right off. His motivation was gone now, along with his desire to win.

At the start of lap seven, Lightning took his pit lane drive through penalty. The Formula One racers were all watching the race snuggly from their pit garages, but Lightning couldn't even look at them as he drove slowly past them. He could feel them all staring straight through him; especially Francesco. As soon as he reached the pit lane exit, Lightning accelerated.

Meanwhile, Darrell decided to try and grab a quick interview with Leyland. Seeing that the team boss wasn't too busy, he seized the opportunity.

"Leyland Dane? Can I just have a quick chat with you, please?"

"Sure."

"We just saw what happened with Lightning. What are your thoughts on that incident?"

"Oh, look, I don't really think that Lightning did anything worthy of a black flag, but if that's the officials' ruling, we just have to run with that. He's apologised for what happened. Obviously, it's very slippery out there, so they all just need to be really careful."

"You said something interesting the other week. You said that Shane was really struggling to fit in with having teammates. How's that working out for you now?"

"Ah, he needs to learn to respect the fact that he's not the only racer in the team, and the sooner he learns that, the better. He knows what's expected of him, and I hope that he'll start to fit in better soon."

"What are your thoughts on having a Redbulldozer one-two-three on the podium again today? You're looking remarkably calm, considering what happened earlier in the race."

"The guys know what they need to do, and we just want to put on a good show in front of the Formula One fans, and showcase the V8s to the world. I hope the fans are enjoying the show, because we sure are!"

"Thank you, Leyland. I'll get outta your way now!"

Back out on the track, nothing had changed at the front of the race. However, at the back, Lightning was barely keeping pace with the car in front of him. He was now back in twenty-second position, right at the back of the field. Four other racers had already retired due to various incidents. In truth, Lightning didn't want to be here anymore. He just wanted to be at home, snuggled up with Sally in front of a warm fire until they fell asleep. He smiled blissfully as his thoughts turned to Sally. He knew just how excited she was at the prospect of becoming a mother. He only hoped that he could be a good father to their child.

A waving chequered flag snapped Lightning back to reality. The race was over. Sighing, he left the track without bothering to do the warm-down lap. On his way back to the pits, he saw Will, so he drove over to him.

"Will, I'm really, really sorry for running into you like that. I didn't mean to. I slipped in the rain and-"

Will held up a tyre to silence Lightning. "Relax, mate! It's okay. I saw what happened in my rear view mirrors. You'd have passed me cleanly if it hadn't been raining. I'm just sorry the officials were so hard on you. You didn't deserve a drive through penalty for slipping into me."

Lightning stared at Will, unsure of what to say next. Luckily, Will's crew chief called for him then.

"I've gotta go. Oh, and thank you for apologising. See you around."

"Yeah," Lightning replied, still not knowing what to say. If a similar incident had happened in the Piston Cup, whoever he'd hit would have probably yelled at him. Shaking his front, Lightning returned to the Redbulldozer pit garages. Tony immediately placed one of his forklift arms over Lightning's roof, hugging him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Lightning breathed. "I'm just bitterly disappointed with myself."

"Cheer up. Tomorrow's race start is based on the amount of points that you've accumulated over the weekend, so that means you'll be starting from fourteenth."

Lightning immediately felt much better. "Thank you for telling me that now. It means that my weekend isn't over yet. I still have another chance to prove myself."

"As far as I'm concerned, you already have."

Dutto drove over to them. "Lightning? If you're still taking part in the speed comparison, you need to get back over to the track."

"Right. I just need to change my tyres. These ones have had it. Is there a used set I can use without getting into trouble with the officials?"

"Yes, they're just over here," Dutto said.

Five minutes later, Lightning returned to the racetrack. Francesco was already there in pit row, along with a stock-standard road car, who'd been given the opportunity to take part in the speed comparison, after winning a competition. Lightning parked alongside Francesco.

"You okay, McQueen?" Francesco asked with concern.

"Yeah. I'll live. So, do you like dust?"

Francesco looked confused. "Dust?"

Lightning nodded eagerly. "Because you're about to eat mine!"

Francesco laughed. "In-a your dreams, McQueen! Francesco is-a never beaten!"

"Francesco is what?" Lightning teased.

Francesco revved his engine aggressively, but he knew that Lightning had caught him. "Oh, all right! Francesco is-a rarely beaten!"

"That's better," Lightning grinned.

An official approached the three cars. "You'll all do one warm-up lap, and then you're to line up on the front of the grid. We'll start you from there, okay? Mr McQueen will have a twenty second handicap, and Mr Bernoulli will have a forty second handicap."

The three cars nodded in understanding. The official waved the normal road car out onto the racetrack. As he watched the car go, Lightning wondered how he must be feeling right now, going up against two of the fastest race cars in the world. _Pretty nervous, probably_ , he concluded. _He knows he can't possibly win, but I'm sure he'll enjoy the experience. I know I would…_

"Okay, Mr McQueen," the official said, waving Lightning onto the track as well. Lightning accelerated out of pit lane, and onto the racetrack. It was very different being out there almost by himself.

Just over a minute later, after Lightning had finished his warm-up lap, another official ushered Lightning onto the grid, alongside the road car. A few seconds later, Francesco stopped alongside Lightning. Then, once the three cars were set, the road car was given the green flag to begin.

As the road car disappeared down the racetrack, Lightning revved his engine aggressively. He was determined to give Francesco a run for his money today. Beside him, Francesco also revved his engine.

"Get ready, Mr McQueen," the official warned. "Go!"

Lightning instinctively accelerated. He tore down the home straight, determined to catch up with the road car before Francesco could catch up with him.

Halfway around the racetrack, Lightning caught up with the road car. With a quiet chuckle, Lightning nimbly overtook him. However, he could now hear Francesco coming up behind him. A glance in his rear view mirrors confirmed that fact. Gritting his teeth with determination, Lightning began pushing his engine to its limit.

By the time Lightning had reached the second last corner, Francesco was right behind him. Grinning, Lightning cut to the inside to stop Francesco overtaking him. From the look he saw on Francesco's face in his rear view mirrors, Lightning knew that he was blocking Francesco well.

As the two world-champion racers came onto the home straight, the crowd cheered and shouted excitedly. Lightning could feel his speed limiter working hard to prevent him from going over three hundred kilometres an hour, but he kept pushing his engine into the red anyway. He could see Francesco creeping up alongside him. Inch by inch, the Formula One racer was gaining on him.

 _I can't let him beat me!_ Lightning thought desperately as he dug even deeper. _Damn this speed limiter!_

At that moment, Lightning felt the tension in the speed limiter suddenly disappear, and then he shot forwards across the finish line, half a length ahead of Francesco. The crowd went ballistic, but Lightning barely noticed. He was still accelerating, much to his astonishment. Easing on his brakes, he managed to slow back down to a much safer speed. Francesco drove up alongside him.

"You beat-a Francesco! Again!" he exclaimed with despair.

"Sorry," Lightning apologised. "To be honest, I think I'll have to forfeit that win."

"Why?"

"I think I broke my speed limiter trying to beat you! I felt it give in the last hundred metres or so."

Sure enough, back in the pit garage, the pit crew found that Lightning had broken his speed limiter. It was immediately removed.

"Do you think it can be repaired?" Dutto asked.

"Nah, it's completely busted," one of the pit crew members said, tossing the broken speed limiter aside. "We'll have to install a new one."

"Sorry," Lightning apologised. "Honestly, I had no intention of breaking it. I was just so desperate to beat Francesco after I crashed racing against him last year. At least this was an official race this time."

"Never mind," Dutto said. "You put on a good show for the crowd, which is what we all wanted."

Just then, Leyland drove over to them. "Has anyone seen Jamie?"

"Last I saw, he was doing a media interview," Craig replied. "Why?"

"The officials want to see him."

"Because of the burnout he did?" Shane asked, grinning smugly.

"What burnout?" Lightning asked innocently. "Never mind. I can go and find him. I want to see the officials too anyway."

"About your incident with Will?" Craig asked.

Lightning nodded. Leyland glared sternly at Lightning.

"No protests, Lightning. Understood?"

"Of course. I wasn't going to protest anyway."

Lightning found Jamie still talking to the media. Pushing his way through the journalists, he gestured to Jamie that he needed to talk to him. Excusing himself from the media, Jamie went over to Lightning.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Keep it down!" Lightning whispered. "The officials want to see you about the burnout you did."

Jamie groaned quietly. "I forgot they were banned! Okay, I'm on my way."

'I'm coming with you," Lightning said. 'I need to see the officials anyway."

A few minutes later, Lightning and Jamie arrived at the officials' offices. One of them drove over to Jamie. It was Jason Bargwanna, the Driving Standards Observer.

"Come into this room please, Mr Win-cup. I don't need to see you, Mr McQueen."

"But I want to see you," Lightning replied firmly. "I want to review the footage of my incident with Will Drivinson."

Jason nodded. "Okay, wait out here, please."

Five minutes later, Jamie came out of the office. He didn't look happy.

"What happened?" Lightning asked.

"Three thousand dollar fine," Jamie sighed. "Oh well. Guess it will be recorded as one of the world's most expensive burnouts!"

Lightning laughed just as Jason called for him. He was still smiling as he entered the office.

"What footage did you want to see?" Jason asked as he turned on the TV screens.

"All the footage of my incident. Especially the on-board footage."

"Okay… Here it is."

Lightning watched closely as the footage from his on-board roof camera began to play. It clearly showed him trying to overtake Will, and then the camera jumped around a bit as Lightning slipped on the damp track. His bump into Will looked worse from other angles than it did from his on-board camera. Will's rear-facing on-board camera also clearly showing Lightning's slip. Jason was frowning by the time the footage ended.

"I didn't see that slip when I decided to give you the pit lane penalty," he admitted. "I didn't really have the time to review all these angles. I watched the trackside footage, but not the on-board footage. I'm really sorry. This was a bad decision on my part. I should've interviewed you post-race, like I did with the others. You can lodge a protest if you wish, but it won't change your result this weekend."

"That's okay," Lightning sighed. "Leyland told me not to protest anyway, even though I wasn't planning to. I just wanted to see how it looked from all angles. You made your decision at the time and, like it or not, it'll have to stand."

Jason smiled kindly at Lightning. "I'll tell you what I can do. I can give you monetary compensation."

"Please, don't bother," Lightning said, with a dismissive wave of his tyre. "It won't change anything. Neither of us were hurt, and Will has accepted my apology. It's time to move on."

Jason looked proudly at Lightning. "You are going to go so far in this sport, you know that, right? I can see you winning races before the end of the year, and if you renew your contract with Redbulldozer Racing, I think you'll be a force to be reckoned with next year."

Instead of being happy, Lightning exhaled despondently. "Why did you say that? I've nearly made up my mind to return to the Piston Cup! Now you've just made the decision even harder!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that. But it's true. The V8s will change again dramatically next year, and it'd be fantastic to have you on board during those changes. Compared to the Piston Cup, this series is still very new, and it's always changing. However, at the end of the day, I want you to make your own decision. Don't let me influence you."

Lightning groaned. "You're not making it easy for me! Thanks for showing me that footage. I'd better go now. I broke my speed limiter racing Francesco, and the boys need to install a new one before tomorrow's race."

On his way back to the Redbulldozer pit garages, Lightning was stopped countless times by eager fans who were keen to get his autograph or a photo with him, or sometimes both. Lightning was only too happy to comply with everyone's requests. That is, until his phone rang.

"Please, excuse me everyone," he said just as he quickly signed a young boy's cap. Turning away from the excited fans, he answered his phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lightning!"

"Junior? It's so great to hear from you!"

"Yeah, I know. I've been watching you race in the Australian Grand Prix events on TV, and so has my crew chief and my boss. And, well, the reason why I rang is because I've been thinking about the offer you made to me last year; about me becoming your co-racer in the endurance races this year. Is that that offer still open?"

"Yes. I haven't asked anyone else."

"Great! Because I've decided to accept."

"Really? Oh, that is fantastic, Junior! Thank you so much! I know we'll make a great team together."

"Yeah, well, my crew chief thought that the V8 Supercars looked like a lot of fun, and he can now see why you left the Piston Cup. After he said that, I told him about your offer, and he said I was crazy not to have accepted it immediately. So, after talking to my boss, I rang you."

"And I am so glad you did!" Lightning beamed. "I'll let Leyland know now, and he can call you soon to discuss all the details. The Enduro races won't be until later in the year, so we have plenty of time to arrange everything."

"I thought so. Good luck with the rest of your weekend."

"Thanks! We'll talk again soon. Bye."

"Bye Lightning."

After Lightning had hung up his phone, he raced over to the pits, grinning excitedly. Darting inside the main Redbulldozer pit garage, he skidded to a stop directly in front of Leyland and Dutto.

"Whoa! Where's the fire?" Dutto gasped, surprised at Lightning's entrance.

"Junior just phoned," Lightning gushed. "He said he'd accept my offer for him to be my co-racer in the Enduro Cup this year!"

"Who's Junior?" Dutto asked.

"Dale Earnhardt Junior. He's my best friend in the Piston Cup, and he's an extremely talented racer."

Leyland nodded thoughtfully. "I've seen him race." Aside to Dutto, he went on. "He has almost as much talent as Lightning does. And if he's a close friend of Lightning's, I'm sure they'll make a great team together." He turned back to face Lightning. "Okay, Speedster. I'll do my best to arrange everything for Junior. Actually, I think it'd be great to have another Piston Cup racer here. The V8s need as much international exposure as possible."

"Thank you, Leyland!" Lightning said, grinning. "We won't let you down."

"I know you won't. Now, go and get your speed limiter fixed before you go racing away at top speed! We'll never be able to catch you if you do!"

Laughing heartily, Lightning drove next door into the pit garage he shared with Craig. While he waited for his new speed limiter to be installed, he decided to phone Sally for a chat. It had been such a rollercoaster day for him, and so he had plenty of things he needed to tell her about.

 **Thank you everyone for your reviews! I was very touched by some of them. Please, keep them coming!**

 **Since this story is based on real life events, I can't say when, or even if, Lightning will win a race in the Championship Series. It's all down to the real-life person I'm substituting Lightning for, although give his recent performances, I'm sure it won't be long before Lightning does get on the podium. However, I am open to ideas over what to do about Shane. He won't get kicked off the team, since that won't happen in real life, but I need a way for Lightning to confront him and make him see the error of his ways. Any ideas that fulfil that criteria are most welcome! I usually don't ask for ideas, so now's your chance if you have any. Thanks!**


	14. Chapter 14 - Lightning's Stressful Day

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 14 – Lightning's Stressful Day

 **Triple Eight Race Engineering Headquarters, Banyo, 13kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Tuesday, 22 March 2016.**

Lightning scowled as he entered the Redbulldozer Racing team's headquarters. Shane was just placing his huge trophy from the Australian Grand Prix inside the team's enormous trophy cabinet. Shane had ended up winning the weekend overall, owing to the amount of points he'd accumulated. Craig had finished in second place overall, while Jamie had finished in sixth. Lightning had ended up outside his goal of top ten in thirteenth place overall.

 _If I hadn't been penalised, I probably would've finished in the top ten overall_ , Lightning thought dismally as he tried to sneak past Shane. Unfortunately, Shane saw him. He held up his trophy proudly.

"What do you think, Lightning? Not a bad piece of silverware, huh? Too bad you're not good enough to win something like this."

Lightning had been prepared to ignore Shane's taunts, but that last comment completely infuriated him. In a flash, Lightning raced over to Shane, and he slammed into Shane, sending the younger race car into the glass door of the trophy cabinet. The glass instantly shattered, raining down on top of both race cars. Neither of them were hurt, but the noise instantly brought everyone in the building over to the scene.

"What on earth is going on out here?" Leyland demanded to know as he approached the group.

"Lightning attacked me," Shane said, feigning pity.

"He deserved it," Lightning retorted. "If I have to look at his smug little face one more day…" Everyone could clearly hear Lightning's engine purring with rage.

"Okay, okay! Cool it you two!" Leyland interjected firmly. "Shane and Lightning, get into my office. Now! Can I have someone clean up this glass, please, before someone bursts a tyre on it?"

Lightning and Shane reluctantly headed upstairs to Leyland's office. The team boss followed them, slamming the office door once they were all inside.

"I have just about had enough of this!" Leyland exclaimed. "If you two cannot learn to at least learn to tolerate each other, I'm afraid I will have to start disciplining you both. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Leyland," Lightning replied. Shane just shrugged.

"Good. However, your little incident out there won't go unpunished. I am going to take the cost of repairing that glass out of your salaries."

"But Lightning pushed me into the glass!" Shane protested. "Why should I have to pay for it?"

"Because you're the one who's trying to pick a fight with Lightning, so I think it's only fair for you to contribute towards the cost of repairs as well. You're just lucky that none of the trophies were damaged. Now, I believe you both have training to do, so you'd better get on with it. Your crew chiefs will debrief you after lunch. You may go now."

Lightning left the office ahead of Shane. He was so angry now. All he wanted to do was to fight with Shane and have it out with him, but he knew he had to remain mature and sensible. That way, he'd still have the upper-tyre with Shane. It wasn't easy though. Shane was, in many ways, far worse than Chick Hicks had ever been.

 _At least Chick was never on my team_ , Lightning thought as he entered the training room. The door swung shut right into Shane's jaw!

"Ow!" Shane yelped. "You'll pay for that, McQueen!"

 _So, he's resorted to using my surname only_ , Lightning thought smugly. _Big deal!_

Shane burst into the room, revving his engine furiously. "You nearly made me lose a tooth!"

"That'd be a drastic improvement to your features!" Lightning retorted.

"Why, you little…brat!" Shane spat. He didn't want to get into trouble for swearing, so he settled for something tamer.

Dutto sounded an air horn. "Will you two please do the world a favour and SHUT UP! Get onto your rolling roads. If I hear one more word spoken between you two today, I swear, I will make Doctor Andrews sedate the pair of you!"

"That'd make a nice change," Jamie muttered from his perch on his own rolling road.

Craig just groaned quietly. _At least nobody is forcing me to take responsibility for Lightning. Then again, why should they? He's an adult, and he's about to become a father, so this really has nothing to do with me. I've done my best, and that's all anyone can ask of me, I suppose._

Knowing how angry Lightning still was, Tony quickly made some changes to Lightning's training schedule for the day. The exercises he'd now planned for Lightning were designed to exhaust him and thereby, hopefully, help to settle him down. He was glad to see that Grant had the same idea in mind for Shane.

Sure enough, by lunchtime, Lightning was thoroughly worn out. Craig kindly had his lunch all ready for him by the time Lightning arrived at the cafeteria. He smiled his thanks.

"I saw Tony working you hard today," Jamie said.

"Yeah, and I'm glad he did," Lightning replied. "I was ready to beat Shane up once and for all this morning."

"Nothing less than he deserves," Jamie muttered. Craig gave him a sharp nudge. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You two just need to leave Shane alone," Craig told them firmly. "We'll never win the team's championship at the end of the year if all we're doing is fighting."

Lightning exhaled deeply. "You're right. Sorry Craig. I'll do my best to ignore him."

"Me too," Jamie added. "Although it won't be easy. If he wasn't on our team, I'd love to run him off the road."

"I sure hope Leyland doesn't renew his contract with Shane," Lightning said.

"Speaking of contracts," Craig interrupted, "have you given much thought to your own?"

Lightning frowned. "Yes, but I still don't know what to do. I love being here in Australia, and racing in the V8 Supercars, but…"

"You're homesick, right?" Jamie finished.

Lightning nodded. "Yeah."

"Perhaps you should take a break," Jamie suggested kindly. "It might do you good to go back to the States for a couple of weeks."

"Yes, it would," Shane interrupted, coming up behind them. "Especially if you stay there."

In unison, Craig, Jamie and Lightning left their table, and they drove away, leaving Shane all by himself. None of them saw how sad Shane looked as he parked at the table all by himself. A moment later, Dutto joined him.

"You have to be a friend to have a friend," Dutto told him sensibly.

"I know," Shane sighed. "Problem is, I resent them all so much. They have everything; money, nice houses, beautiful wives…well, except for Jamie, but still… The point is, I've have to work very hard to get to where I am now. I didn't have mentors or a multi-million dollar team to help me."

"Which is why you're a fantastic asset to our team. You know exactly what it takes to get here. But you know what? None of the others have had it as easy as you seem to think they have. Just try to be a lot nicer to them. You might be surprised."

Shane sighed despondently. He really did want to be friends with his teammates, but his past difficulties with teammates made it hard. He was used to being the centre of attention, so having to share that attention with others was extremely difficult for him. _Maybe, if I apologise to the others, it might make things a bit easier for me. Really, I have no one to blame for my loneliness other than myself. Lightning and Jamie just react so beautifully whenever I tease them. It can be so much fun fighting with them…_

…

Later that evening, Lightning was driving home from training. He was tired after the hard training session Tony had given to him, and now he was just looking forward to spending some quiet time with Sally.

All was quiet as Lightning drove up the long, straight driveway towards his mansion. He paused for a moment in the driveway nearer to the house. The enormous mansion dominated the landscape, and it could easily been seen from the road. It was such a vast contrast to the small, but humble house he had behind the racing museum in Radiator Springs.

 _They're both a perfect place to raise a family_ , Lightning thought. Sighing despondently, he drove as quietly as he could around the back. He wanted to check on the tractors, but then he saw Sally slipping into the swimming pool for an evening dip. Grinning cheekily, Lightning entered the pool area without letting Sally see him. Seeing Sally disappear underneath the surface, Lightning revved his engine and he drove straight into the deep end of the pool. Underwater, Lightning swam over to Sally, surprising her with a quick kiss on the lips. Both of them promptly surfaced.

"Lightning!" Sally exclaimed. "When did you get home?"

"Just now," Lightning replied as he swam over to a ledge. Sally joined him.

"So, how was your day?" Sally asked.

"Not that great. I lost my temper at Shane, and we ended up fighting. Yes, Leyland told us off, but at least Shane left me alone after lunch. Tony and I discussed some things we need to work on."

"Do you think you'll be ready for Tasmania?"

"Dunno. I'll be as ready as I can be, I suppose. I knew the competition here would be tough, but I never expected it to be _this_ tough. In the Piston Cup, all I needed was speed, which I have plenty of. But in the V8s, speed is only important during qualifying. During the races, it's all about tactics and overtaking manoeuvres. And, of course, each racetrack is so vastly different from the previous one, so each weekend presents me with a new chance to redeem myself. What would really boost my confidence is a win; or at least, a podium finish. Tony says that I'm just as fast as all the other racers out there, but I'm having trouble committing to that speed, and then converting it to results. Sorry if I'm not making any sense."

Leaning over, Sally kissed him on his fender. "It's okay. You needed to rant. Guess the stress of impending fatherhood is getting to you as well, right?"

Lightning exhaled tiredly. 'Partially. Ten years ago, I would've fought with Shane at the first snide remarked he made at me. But now, I keep thinking, 'what kind of an example would this be for our child?' And so, Shane gets away with his bullying, and I'm left seething."

"It's called 'maturity', Stickers. We all get infected with it eventually. Well, okay, maybe not everyone… Mater has never had it!"

Lightning burst out laughing, thinking of his playful best friend. Sally joined in, and then she snuggled up closer to Lightning. Lightning sighed contently.

"Thanks. I needed a good laugh."

"I know… How about a water fight?"

"Nah. Let's just sit here. Oh, look! The moon's up."

"The constellations are different in the southern hemisphere," Sally mused. "Let's see if we can find the Southern Cross."

Half an hour later, Gracie came outside to find Sally, and tell her that dinner was ready. She didn't know that Lightning had come home yet, so she was very surprised to find them both snuggled up together in the swimming pool. She coughed to get their attention. Lightning and Sally reluctantly spun around to look at her.

"Dinner is ready," Gracie announced. "I'll just grab another towel for you, Lightning."

"Thanks," Lightning replied. "So, what is for dinner?"

"Nothing you can't have," Gracie replied, grinning.

"Damn! See, this is the one downer to being a race car. I can't have anything unhealthy!"

"Don't you want to win anymore?" Sally asked as she drove up the ramp out of the pool. Gracie threw a towel over Sally's roof.

"Touché!" Lightning said, and he followed Sally. Gracie also threw a towel over him.

"I remember doing this after your baths when you were a toddler," Gracie said to Lightning. "You'd never keep as still as you do now."

Lightning blushed profusely. Unfortunately, since his paintwork was now dark blue, it showed. "Thanks for the reminder!"

"I enjoyed being your nanny," Gracie smiled. "And I can't wait to be a nanny again. Providing, of course, that your baby doesn't have Jaguar Syndrome as well!"

"Don't worry," Sally assured her. "Jaguar Syndrome isn't hereditary."

"That's a relief," Gracie said, breathing a small sigh of relief. "I'm too old to go racing after a baby race car!"

Laughing, the three of them headed inside.

 **I'll admit that I'm rather excited about the next few chapters, because of what happens between Lightning and Shane. It was something that happened in real life, but it fits into this story so perfectly that I have to use it!**

 **Guest, thank you so much for your suggestion! I really like it. I'll be sure to keep it in mind for later in the story.**


	15. Chapter 15 - Day 1 at Tasmania

Chapter 15 – Day 1 at the Tasmania Supersprint

 **Symmons Plains Raceway, 30 kms south of Launceston, Tasmania – Saturday, 2** **nd** **April, 2016**

"Ahh! It's freezing!" Lightning yelped as he rolled off his sleeping mat. Jamie chuckled from the other side of the room.

"Welcome to Tasmania! I can understand why the convicts loved it here. The climate is just like England for most of the year."

Lightning shivered as he made his way to the bathroom. "Can you put the heater on, please, while I have a nice, warm shower?"

Jamie glanced at the clock. "It's not worth it. We need to be at the track in an hour."

Rolling his eyes, Lightning closed the bathroom door. Jamie knocked on it a moment later.

"Hey, Speedster? Don't use all the hot water!"

"I won't!"

"Yeah, right!"

Chuckling, Lightning turned on the shower and he drove underneath the warm spray. _Thank goodness Leyland decided to let Jamie and I share a room. I couldn't stand having to share with Shane!_ Shane was sharing a room with Grant, his crew chief. Naturally, Craig and Elinor had a room all to themselves. _If I was ever ordered to share with Shane, I'd sleep in the transporter_ , Lightning thought. He smiled contently. He'd had a great practice day yesterday, and now he was ready to try and convert those results into points.

The first hour-long practice had resulted in Jamie and Craig coming in first and second respectively. Normally, Lightning would've been disappointed with his tenth place finish, but what made yesterday's result sweet was that he'd managed to beat Shane by just two thousands of a second! The shocked expression on Shane's face had been priceless.

Not one to let go of a good thing, Lightning had completely astonished everyone, including himself, by coming second in the second practice session. Jamie, Shane and Craig had come right behind him in third, fourth and fifth. Everyone had been so proud of Lightning and, upon his return to the pits, he'd received multiple hugs and high-tyres. Even Leyland had had a huge grin plastered on his face. The one downer was the fact the Frosty had won the second practice session, by four hundredths of a second.

After Lightning had finished his shower, he left the hotel room, telling Jamie he'd meet him at the track. Lightning arrived at the racetrack just before eight o'clock. He was delighted to see that Dutto had hot drinks ready for everyone.

"Thank you so much, Dutto," Lightning said as he accepted a cup of hot chocolate. "Aww! And you remembered the marshmallow too!"

"How could I forget after the fuss you kicked up when I forgot last time?"

Lightning took a quick sip. "Ah! That's perfect! Correct me if I'm wrong, but it wasn't this cold yesterday, was it?"

"You're right, it wasn't," Dutto replied. "Good luck out there today."

"Thanks. I'm looking forward to it."

"That's the spirit."

"Morning, Lightning," Leyland said, driving over.

"Morning, Leyland."

"Hey, listen, I've just had a call from R.S.N. They want to do a quick live interview with you in about half an hour up in the media room."

"What about?"

"It's just a catch-up, really. General questions about your racing, and stuff."

"Okay, but on one condition. No questions about Sally or what I'm planning to do after my contract runs out. I still haven't made up my mind about that."

"I'll let them know. But that is something we'll need to start talking about soon."

"I know."

Leyland got back on his phone. Taking his hot chocolate with him, Lightning drove into the team's second pit garage, where Tony was busy analysing his data from the day before.

"Morning, Speedster. I'm just comparing your data with Shane's, and I must say, there's very little difference between the two of you."

"Wanna bet?"

Tony chuckled. "I meant, on paper. Your racing styles at this track are very similar."

"Permission to throw up?"

"Very funny. I'm being serious."

"Sorry. So, what's the plan for me today?"

"Keep racing the same way you have been. You seem to have found your niche with this racetrack, which is surprising, considering just how tight it is. Your speeds around the hairpin are phenomenal. Oh, and that reminds me. The officials want to check your weight this morning. They're a little bit suspicious because of your results from yesterday."

"I suppose they want fuel and oil samples as well?"

"Correct. You can do that after your interview though."

 _Great! As soon as I start doing well, the officials start getting suspicious! Oh well. I have nothing to hide._

…

"Going live in ten!" the R.S.N. producer said.

Lightning was up in the racetrack's media room for his live interview with Darrell Cartrip. He took a deep breath as a light on the camera started blinking, indicating that it was about to go live. As soon as the light stopped blinking, the producer nodded to Darrell, who promptly began reading off the teleprompter.

"Welcome back to our live coverage of the Tasmania Supersprint, coming to you live from Symmons Plains Raceway in the beautiful State of Tasmania, Australia. With me this morning is none other than the international racing superstar, Lightning McQueen. With an incredible seven Piston Cups to his name, and now the V8 Supercars Development Series Championship as well, Lightning has been showing some incredible form already this weekend. So, Lightning, how do you feel about your results from both of yesterday's practice sessions?"

"Honestly, Darrell, I'm not getting too carried away by it all," Lightning replied, looking in Darrell's direction. "My goal is still to try and finish each race within the top ten. Yes, I was very surprised to finish in second place in the second practice session yesterday, but that's just one out of many practice sessions to come. I've had a much better start to the Championship Series than I could've ever dreamed of, and now I'm just going to try and keep on improving from here."

"I know you've asked us not to ask about what you're intending to do after your contract expires at the end of this year, but hypothetically, if you were to stay in the V8 Supercars, do you think you could end up winning the Championship?"

Lightning groaned inwardly. _Trust them to work around the question!_ "If I knew the answer to that question, I'd have already made my decision about my contract. The truth is, I'm stuck in a bit of a quandary right now. My experience in the Piston Cup late last year made me realise just how much my racing style has changed. My focus now isn't on speed and endurance, so much as skill and tactics. The V8s may not seem like much to your viewers who are used to watching Formula One and the Piston Cup, but having experienced all three of those racing codes, I can honestly say that the V8s is the hardest racing code I've ever been in. When you look at the spilt times, we're often talking hundredths and thousandths of a second between the top ten racers, as you would've seen yesterday between myself and Shane. I can't afford to make little mistakes like I used to do in the Piston Cup, because that could make a huge difference in my overall result."

"So, how do you prepare for a race weekend like this then?"

"Having a fantastic team behind you is always the best place to start. The Redbulldozer guys have been absolutely legendary. You'll probably see them pushing me to my limits, but that's what I need in order to be successful. A good night's sleep also helps."

Darrell chuckled. "Okay, I'm afraid that's all we have time for today, but thank you so much for your time, Lightning."

"It was my pleasure."

Lightning waited from the 'all clear' from the producer before he and Darrell moved behind the camera to talk. "How was that?" he asked Darrell.

"Good. I like interviewing you nowadays, because you get so passionate about your answers, and then you go and answer all the questions I was going to ask. You never used to be like that."

Lightning chuckled. "I've had some excellent mentors since my rookie year in the Piston Cup. Craig's been teaching me how to handle interviews better."

"He's done a good job. But I have to ask, why don't you want me asking questions about your private life? You used to be okay with that."

"Since my marriage, I've come to realise that it's not fair to Sally if I talk about her to the media. If you want to ask those questions, feel free to arrange a recorded interview with us both. That way, we can have some control over what the world learns about us."

"I might take you up on that offer. When's your baby due?"

"I have to go, sorry. The officials want to steal some of my oil for routine testing."

Darrell grimaced. "Rather you than me! Good luck today."

"Thanks."

…

Half an hour later, Lightning returned to the Redbulldozer Racing pit garages. He passed a piece of paper to Dutto.

"A copy of my weight results," he whispered to the team's manager. "They'll have the oil and fuel test results by tomorrow morning."

"Thanks," Dutto replied, glancing at the paper. "I'll put this in your file."

"I'm okay, aren't I?"

"Yeah, there's no problems there."

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Lightning went to see Tony again, so he could get ready for the third and final practice session.

Unlike the day before, the third practice session only lasted for fifteen minutes, but it was fifteen minutes well-spent in Lightning's opinion. He was feeling fantastic, even though he only managed to finish in seventh place behind Craig, who finished in sixth. Shane fell all the way back to fourteenth, while Jamie lingered in eighteenth.

"There's not much in it," Tony reminded Lightning as the race car went through his cool-down routine.

"I know," Lightning agreed. "The big difference is that I'm really comfortable with this track, and because of that, I'm feeling very confident."

Tony nodded. "You'd better go and grab something to eat while you can."

Minutes later, Lightning joined Craig and Jamie for lunch in the cafeteria tent.

"I can't believe how good you are at this track, Lightning!" Jamie exclaimed once they'd settled down to eat.

"I can," Craig said, grinning. "You're really making the rest of us take notice."

Lightning smiled happily. "Guess this track and I really agree with each other. Where's Shane?"

"Who cares?" Jamie shrugged. "Why let him spoil the day?"

"Good point."

…

After lunch, the racers prepared for their first qualifying session. There would be a second qualifying session the following day before the second race, which would give them all a fresh slate. Lightning did his best during qualifying, but even though his speed had been the same as it had been during practice, it wasn't good enough, and he ended up qualifying in twelfth.

"I suppose that's better than last," Lightning joked once everyone had returned to the pits.

"Ever the optimist," Tony chuckled. "Just finish in the top ten during the race, and we'll all be stoked."

Lightning did his very best, resulting in a comfortable seventh place finish. To his great annoyance though, Shane ended up winning. Jamie came second, while Craig finished in fifth.

"Will I never be able to get the better of him?" Lightning muttered crossly to Craig as they joined the rest of the team in watching the trophy presentation.

"You will," Craig reassured him. "Just don't let your temper get the better of you. You'll make more friends than he will that way."

Lightning grimaced, but then he plastered on a fake smile when he saw a camera focus in on him.

 _Enjoy it while you can, Shane… Enjoy it while you can._

 **First of all, I must apologise for the late posting of this chapter. I decided to wait until they'd fixed the problem with the reviews. Also, I'm sorry for the lack of writing action in this chapter. Normally, I'll watch replays of the race on TV, and then I'll download it from YouTube, but this race wasn't on there, so my notes were too sketchy to be of much use. I do have the footage for the next race though, so next chapter will have A LOT of racing action in it.**

 **I also saw something today that really set my heart racing... I saw Jamie Whincup's spare V8 Supercar heading towards Brisbane on my way home from the city this morning! It had to be the spare because the teams are all at Winton in Victoria this weekend, but I was so shocked to see it! Unfortunately, it was going too fast for me to get a picture, but wow! The race cars are road-worthy with a special permit.**

 **You'll also notice that I've changed the cover picture to one of Craig's V8 Supercar from last year, so you can all see what the livery looks like. Hope that helps those of you who've asked me about that.**

 **Anyway, please keep the reviews coming! Lightning will get the better of Shane very soon, and their baby will appear within the next few chapters, I promise!**


	16. Chapter 16 - Day 2 at Tasmania - Part 1

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 16 – Day 2 at the Tasmania Supersprint – Part 1

 **Symmons Plains Raceway, 30 kms south of Launceston, Tasmania – Sunday, 3** **rd** **April, 2016**

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Groaning loudly in protest, Lightning and Jamie reluctantly stirred awake inside the hotel room they were sharing for the weekend.

"Kill the alarm would you, Jamie?" Lightning grunted sleepily.

A loud 'crash!' made Lightning open his eyes. The alarm clock was now in pieces on the floor beside Jamie, but the Holden race car couldn't be seen. He was completely hidden by several layers of blankets, despite the air-con being set to a warm twenty-five degrees. Lightning couldn't help laughing.

"What's the time?" Jamie asked without disturbing his cocoon.

"How should I know? You didn't just kill the alarm; you killed the clock!"

Jamie finally peeked out to see the damage he'd done. Shrugging, he settled down to sleep again. "They're only ten bucks from Car-Mart. Anyway, we don't need to be at the track until ten, so I'm gonna sleep in."

Lightning checked the time on his phone. It was only seven-thirty, but he decided to play a trick on Jamie. "Oh, shoot! It's nine-thirty!"

"WHAT!" Jamie yelped, throwing off his blankets. The look of sheer panic in his eyes sent Lightning into a hysterical laughing fit. Jamie's scowl only made Lightning start crying tears of joy. Looking at his own phone, Jamie saw the real time. "You'll pay for that, Lightning McQueen!" And, using a front tyre, he threw a pillow at his hysterical teammate. Lightning threw it back.

"Sorry, mate, but I simply couldn't resist! Oh, I need to breathe! I'm going to get some breakfast. You coming?"

"I suppose, since you've completely ruined any chance I had of going back to sleep. If I lose the race today, I'll blame you!"

"Even if I beat you?"

"Especially if you beat me!"

A loud knock sounded on the door. "Come in!" Lightning and Jamie called in unison.

Craig peeked into the room. "Sorry, but I heard shouting. Are you two okay?"

"Perfectly," Lightning replied, still grinning. "We're just going for breakfast. You coming?"

"Why not? Everyone else will probably opt to sleep in, so we'll get served first."

"Where's mum?"

"She's already gone to the first aid room. Pity, I wouldn't have minded snuggling up with her. It's cold enough for a nice cuddle."

"I wish I had someone to cuddle," Jamie muttered.

"How about Shane?" Lightning suggested smugly. He was rewarded with the pillow being thrown back at him.

…

The racetrack was unusually quiet by the time Lightning, Craig and Jamie arrived for breakfast. Just as Craig had predicted, the cafeteria tent was virtually empty, so the three teammates were able to eat their breakfast in peace.

Afterwards, Craig went to have some physio, while Jamie and Lightning did an autograph session at the team's merchandise tent. It wasn't too busy yet, since most of the fans were still arriving, but it was great for them both to get away from the pits for a while.

Finally, it was time for qualifying. Lightning did his very best, but he only managed to qualify in tenth again; two tenths of a second off the pace. Shane and Jamie qualified in second and fourth respectively, while Craig managed to snatch eleventh.

"Great work everyone," Leyland praised when his racers had returned to the pits. "I want to see clean racing from all of you today, understood."

"Of course, Leyland," Shane said sweetly. Lightning made a gagging motion behind Shane, which made Dutto quickly stifle a laugh.

Leyland ignored Lightning's antics, because he had some bigger news. "I've just received an updated overall Championship points table. Currently, Shane is leading the Championship…"

"I think I really will throw up!" Lightning whispered to Jamie.

"…Jamie is in second place overall, and just two points behind Shane."

"Nice work, Jamie," Davo said warmly.

"Thanks, mate."

"And, believe it or not, Lightning is in fourth place…"

"Whoo-hoo!" Tony cheered. Lightning glared smugly at Shane. His expression clearly said, 'I'm coming for you, Shane, so watch out!'

"…And poor old Craig is in equal sixth," Leyland finished, winking at the fans' favourite race car.

"It's not over yet!" Craig reminded everyone.

"And, on that happy note, it's time for lunch," Dutto announced.

…

After lunch, and a quick phone call to Sally, it was time for the race to begin. Lightning went through the race statistics with Tony one last time before the air horn for the commencement of the warm-up lap sounded.

"Two-hundred kilometres… Eighty-four laps… Top air temp of twenty-one degrees… Soft racing tyres only… Seven turns… Top speed two-hundred and sixty-five k's… Average top speed a hundred and sixty-eight k's… Okay, thanks, Tony! I think I'm good to go now."

"Oh, before you do, your fuel and oil test results have just come back," Dutto interjected. "All negative. Make us proud, Speedster."

"I'll do my best," Lightning promised. He revved his engine in excited anticipation.

Minutes later, after completing the warm-up lap, the twenty-six racers were all lined up on the grid, ready to go. Lightning glanced over at Craig, eyeing up his step-father.

"Ready for a drag race?" he asked cheekily.

Craig just chuckled. "Don't think for a second that I'll go easy on you!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Lightning turned his attention to the red starting lights, waiting for them to go out. As soon as they did, the race began.

Even before the second turn, Frosty, who'd won pole position, managed to push Shane sideways. But that didn't bother Shane as he slipped back in front of Jamie, who was now in third. Meanwhile, Lightning had had a fantastic start, and at the hairpin, he was able to sneak down the inside to snatch sixth. Craig had fallen well back in the field by the time he'd reached the hairpin.

At the end of the first lap, Craig pitted for fuel and tyres. That had been part of his pre-race strategy with Ludo. He only hoped it would pay off later on in the race.

While that was going on, Shane and Jamie were having a real battle with Frosty. The Prodrive racer clearly wasn't too thrilled about having not just one, but two Redbulldozer racers on his tail! At the hairpin on lap three, Shane made his move, diving down on the inside to draw level with Frosty. Jamie was right behind him.

 _Whatever you think of Shane, you can't deny he's a talented racer,_ Jamie thought as a couple of corners later, he and Shane managed to overtake Frosty smoothly. In the blink of an eye, Frosty had dropped from first into third. _Now, where's Lightning? I'll have to watch out for him too now. He's bound to be gaining ground._

Lightning was still in sixth, but contrary to Jamie's thoughts, he was in no hurry to move up yet. It was a long race, and he was hoping someone would make a mistake that he could take advantage off. Sure enough, just one lap later, the yellow flags came out at the hairpin. Pither had crashed badly into a barrier on the back straight, causing the safety car to be sent out.

"Pit on this lap, Lightning," Tony ordered. "Shane, Jamie and Craig are also pitting, so it's going to be crazy. You're in first for our garage, so just watch out for Jamie when you exit the pit bay."

"Copy that, Tony."

Jamie, however, realised that if he double-stacked directly behind Shane, he'd block Lightning, so while Shane and Lightning were being serviced, Jamie parked out in pit lane, but alongside Lightning.

"Smart thinking, Jdub!" Lightning called as he accelerated away from the pit bay. He re-joined the race well back in the field. Craig and Jamie were even further behind him now.

The race restarted on lap ten. At the exit of the hairpin, Lightning and McLaughlin ended up side-swiping each other. It was only a minor incident and, after exchanging challenging grins, the two of them managed to keep a fair gap between them. A few corners later, Frosty gave Shane a big nudge in the rear.

"Hey! Back off!" Shane snapped crossly.

"Then hurry up, or get out of my way!" Frosty retorted.

A lap later, Frosty attempted to overtake Shane, but he slipped and ended up falling behind again. The two of them then raced side-by-side down the long straight towards the hairpin, making the fans cheer with delight. Craig, meanwhile, was watching it all take place from fourth.

 _I wouldn't be at all upset if they took each other out_ , he thought happily.

Back in nineteenth, Lightning had no idea what was going on ahead of him. He was starting to have his own problems. At the hairpin, one of the racers ahead of him went off into the sand trap, giving Lightning nowhere to go except into the back of him. It was only a light touch, but then someone else ran into the back of Lightning, jolting him badly.

"Sorry!" Lightning heard Slade apologise behind him.

"I'm sorry too!" the car ahead of Lightning said. "I locked up my brakes."

"For the record, I'll say sorry as well!" Lightning laughed as he worked his way out of the sandwich of cars. Even though he was now even further back in the field, in twenty-third, he was still feeling really good and happy.

A few laps later, Jamie was left with no other option but to pit. His rear tyres had almost no grip left, so he had to have them changed to new ones. That left Craig in third place.

Lightning was focusing on overtaking the car ahead of him when something on his dash panel caught his eye.

"Tony, my oil warning light just came on," he reported to his crew chief.

"I can see that. We'll monitor it for a few laps, okay? Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah! I'd just like to know why it's on."

In the pit garage, Tony gestured for Dr Andrews to join him. "Lightning's oil light has come on," he explained. "Should we bring him in to take a look and see what wrong?"

"How's he feeling?"

"Fine. And I can't see anything in his data that would cause it. His temperature's fine, and everything else checks out okay."

"That's weird. Bring him in."

Tony jumped on the radio. "Lightning, I want you to pit on this lap, okay? Doctor Andrews wants to take a look at you."

Sighing with annoyance, Lightning peeled off into pit lane. When he reached the pit garage, he drove straight inside it.

"Honestly, I feel fine!" Lightning protested as Dr Andrews removed his bonnet clips.

"It never hurts to check," Dr Andrews told him firmly, and he lifted the bonnet.

"Great! There goes my top ten placing!" Lightning grumbled. He glared crossly at Tony. "I wouldn't have told you about the oil light if I'd known you were going to make a big fuss about it."

"I still would've seen it on my monitor," Tony reminded him.

While Lightning was stewing in the pit garage, Jamie pitted again for tyres. He was really struggling with them today, and he had no idea why. _Guess it's all down to you now, Craig_. He pitted again a lap later.

"Yeah, I just have no grip at all out there, guys," he told Davo and Dutto when he came to a stop. "Sorry. Do you want me to keep going?"

"Yes, you can still be classified," Dutto told him firmly. "And you might get a tyre-full of points."

Jamie nodded in understanding. "How's Lightning?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Davo said. "Worry about yourself, okay?"

"Sure." And Jamie returned to the track.

Over twenty laps later, Craig lost ground, and he dropped back into fourth. He knew that he wasn't the only one struggling with tyre and brake degradation, so he'd just have to keep racing cleanly.

Meanwhile, with Lightning insisting that he was fine, and his oil warning light going off, Dr Andrews decided to let him re-join the race. Lightning tore out of pit lane as fast as he could, even though he knew it would be hopeless trying to catch up with the field. _At least I could still get classified if I finish._

But then, when Lightning rounded the first and second corners, he started to feel dizzy and nauseas. He gasped when he saw his oil warning light come on again as he accelerated down the straight towards the hairpin. However, before he could do anything to react, Lightning's vision suddenly went black as he passed out. He was still travelling at 265 kilometres an hour…

 **Cliffhanger! I knew I was overdue for one, hehe! Please don't hate me!**

 **I'd like to thank IrishScottDragonGirl for letting me 'recycle' the alarm clock scene she used in her story DESTINY: A New Path. It was brilliant, so I just had to use it! I hope you all find it as funny as I did.**

 **Please, don't forget to leave a review. I can't say just how much I value your feedback, and please feel free to ask me any questions about the story, V8 Supercars or even just Australia in general.**


	17. Chapter 17 - Day 2 at Tasmania - Part 2

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 17 – Day 2 at the Tasmania Supersprint – Part 2

 **Symmons Plains Raceway, 30 kms south of Launceston, Tasmania – Sunday, 3** **rd** **April, 2016**

A loud screech of tyres made Tony look up at the TV screens. "Oh, my goodness! Lightning's off!" he shouted, but he didn't have to. Leyland, Dutto and the rest of the team had already seen what had happened.

Lightning brakes had automatically locked on as soon as he'd gone unconscious, so miraculously, he'd had run straight into the gravel trap at the hairpin, followed a fraction of a second later by Jamie and Heimgartner, who'd skidded out of control. Jamie hit Heimgartner hard in his left-hand side.

"Ow!" both race cars exclaimed in unison.

"Sorry," Jamie apologised as he threw himself into reverse. Glancing over at Lightning, he frowned with concern. "Lightning? Are you okay, mate?" A sick feeling rose in Jamie's tank when he realised that Lightning was completely unconscious. "Dutto, Lightning is unresponsive," Jamie quickly reported over the radio. "His oil is all over the track!"

"Calm down, Jamie," Dutto replied evenly. "Are you okay after that hit?"

"I think so. It sounded worse than it was."

"Just keep going then. The paramedics will be there shortly to look after Lightning."

Jamie hesitated, not willing to leave his friend when he was so vulnerable, but he knew he had no other choice.

Tony began speaking urgently into his headset. "Lightning? Lightning, can you hear me?" The only sound from Lightning's radio was agonising static. "Lightning, I need you to respond, please!" Still nothing.

"Yellow flags are out," Leyland said. "Local yellows only." The worry was clearly etched in his face.

At that moment, Shane and Frosty also skidded to a stop in Lightning's oil. Shane turned in awkwardly, stopping directly in line with the narrow end of a safety barrier, leaving no room for him to reverse safely. Craig, seeing the disaster unfolding ahead of him, slowed right down, and he turned on the inside of the hairpin. By chance, he managed to stay out of the oil.

"Ludo, I want a status report on Lightning, now!" he ordered his crew chief.

"He iz unresponsive," the French forklift replied. "Zat is all I know."

Craig gulped. He hated feeling so helpless! He could only imagine what Elinor must be thinking. _Please, let him be okay!_

Shane tried desperately hard to reverse out of the tight spot he'd created, but it was no use. His tyres just spun helplessly in the gravel.

"No!" Shane exclaimed with frustration. "How could this have happened?"

"Keep trying to get out," Grant ordered. "They're not going to come and tow you out until after the race."

"I can't get out!" Shane snapped, and he promptly gave up. "It's over… Who was at fault for that oil, that's what I'd like to know!"

Nobody dared to answer his question.

…

"Lightning, please respond!"

Groaning inwardly, Lightning heard Tony's voice at the far end of the long tunnel he was in. _He sounds so desperate. I wonder why?_

"Tony?" Lightning managed to whisper ever so faintly.

"Oh, thank Chrysler!" Tony exclaimed with relief. "Keep talking to me, mate. How are you feeling?"

"Mmm… I'm…not so sure… I feel really weak… What happened?"

"We're still not sure either. Hang in there. The paramedics are on their way."

Lightning blinked open his eyes in time to see five paramedics and two ambulances hurrying towards him. He could still hear the race going on behind him, but they were on their final lap. The sunlight hurt his eyes, so he quickly closed them.

"Mr McQueen?" one of the paramedics said as soon as he'd reached Lightning's side.

"Mmm…" Lightning moaned.

"We'll take care of you now. Keep talking to me. Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No, I'm just really weak…can't move…"

"That's okay. The ambulance is here now. We'll load you up and get you over to first aid."

"Thanks…"

Lightning felt himself being lifted inside the ambulance. Minutes later, the ambulance arrived at the first aid building, where he was unloaded and placed inside an examination room. The first aid building was rather busy, owing to Pither's earlier accident. From what Lightning could hear, the paramedics and nurses were preparing Pither for transportation to the Launceston General Hospital.

"I want to know his vitals, and get him started on a drip," Dr Lee ordered the nurses as soon as he saw Lightning come in.

"I can do that," Elinor volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Dr Lee asked.

"Yes. It's not the first time I've had to administer first aid to him, and I doubt it'll be the last time."

"Very well then. I'll leave you to it. Come get me once you know his condition."

Elinor drove over to Lightning. He was still conscious, but only just. Sighing, she started to unlock his bonnet clips. Lightning weakly opened his eyes.

"Sorry I crashed, mum."

"You didn't crash," she told him kindly. "The gravel trap stopped you; as it should." She placed a couple of sensors on top of Lightning's bonnet. "Can you tell me what happened out there?"

"I don't know really. I was having a bit of trouble with my oil, but we seemed to have that under control before I went back out. Everything went black when I was going up the straight. I don't remember much after that."

"Okay, well, let's see what's going on with your oil first." Elinor glanced over at one of the machines that was now monitoring Lightning's vitals. _RPMs are rather slow… That's never a good sign for a race car. Their RPMs are naturally faster than normal. Oil pressure is dangerously low… Any normal car would be completely unconscious with their oil pressure that low. I hope we can find that oil leak quickly, otherwise he'll have to be admitted to hospital until it's found._

Leaving the sensors in place on Lightning's bonnet, Elinor opened it. She barely managed to stop the gasp that rose in her throat. Lightning's engine bay was completely covered with a film of oil! Quickly suppressing the urge to cry, Elinor went to find Dr Lee, who was helping to stabilise Pither.

"Doctor Lee?"

"Yes?"

"Lightning has a critical oil leak. He needs an emergency oil change."

"I'll come over immediately. Go and fetch the equipment."

Lightning groaned when he sensed someone approaching. Squinting, he saw that it was Dr Lee. "Will I live?" he asked jokingly.

Dr Lee breathed a small sigh of relief. _If Lightning's joking around, he's not in any obvious pain. I might give him a painkiller after we've dealt with the leak, just to be safe._ "I think so. However, we do know the reason why you fainted. You have a serious oil leak, so we need to find out where the leak is, seal it, and then we'll do a full oil change."

"I had that big oil leak two years ago at Bathurst," Lightning reminded him.

"You did too! Let me see…"

There was silence while Dr Lee poked around in Lightning's oily engine bay. Elinor returned, pushing a trolley with the supplies for the oil change.

"Found it!" Dr Lee exclaimed. "I'll have to check your records, but I'm pretty sure it's the same oil line that broke at Bathurst. That means the joint must be weak, which mean that you'll probably need surgery on it."

Lightning groaned again. "Now?"

"No. We need to stabilise you first. You've lost most of your oil. I'll just clamp both ends of the break, and then we'll do your oil change. Don't look so worried. This is a very common racing injury. The way you lot knock each other around out there, I'm surprised there isn't an oil leak in every race! And, since you've had this happen to you twice in five years, I need to install a new warning light on your dash panel. V8 Supercar rules I'm afraid."

"That's okay. Permission to faint again?" Lightning asked weakly. He did so before Dr Lee could reply.

"He always faints with oil changes," Elinor explained with a shrug. "Even the thought of them makes him queasy. Let's get on with it before he loses any more oil. He'll probably be rather cranky when he wakes up."

…

Over in the pits, Shane was fuming. "How could that have happened? Who sent Lightning back out there with an oil leak? That's what I'd like to know!"

"It wasn't anyone's fault, Shane," Leyland said, trying to remain calm, even though inside he was absolutely furious with his newest racer. "We made a judgement call, and it back-fired."

"Lightning should never have gone back out there! He made me lose the race!"

Seething furiously, Jamie drove straight over to his teammate, and he slapped Shane across his mouth as hard as he could. "Just shut up Shane! You have no idea what you're even saying! It was your own fault you lost the race! You could see the oil on the track before you got to it! I couldn't because he was right in front of me, but you don't see me blaming Lightning, do you?"

Shane smirked. "Only because you were already three laps behind everyone else. I bet if you'd been in my place, you'd be angry too right now."

"Perhaps, but you're an idiot, Shane! And now, everyone knows it!"

"I'm not an idiot!"

"Getting stuck on the guard rail is pretty stupid in my books!"

"It's better than smashing into a wall like you did!"

"Don't you DARE bring that up!"

"Oohh! Touchy, aren't we?"

"THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU SHANE!"

Before anyone could stop them, both race cars had charged at each other, and they began fighting. Dutto was about to try and intervene, but Leyland stopped him.

"It had to happen sooner or later. Let them fight, so they can get it out of their systems."

Outside, behind the garage, Leyland heard someone yell out, "Fight in the Redbulldozer garage!" Seconds later, the media had swarmed in, snapping away on their cameras at the two furious race cars. Leyland didn't bother to stop them.

 _Some bad publicity might make Shane wake up to himself. It's a shame Jamie's involved, but I'll make it clear that he was the victim in all this. That's not a lie._

After about five minutes, Jamie and Shane backed away from each other, breathing heavily from their exertion. Normally, car fights could last as long as twenty minutes, but the long race had clearly taken its toll on both of them, and they didn't have much energy left for fighting. With his experienced eyes, Dutto did a quick assessment of the damage both race cars had inflicted upon themselves. Naturally, there were a few dents and scratches, and Shane was now sporting a flat tyre on his right rear wheel that had been punctured by Jamie's teeth. Also, Shane's spoiler was only hanging on by one bolt. Clearly, Jamie had won this round.

"Had enough?" Shane panted.

"Was that a question or a statement?" Jamie taunted.

"Why, you…!" Shane made a half-hearted lunge at Jamie, but Jamie was able to move out of his way. The last bolt on Shane's spoiler gave way, sending the spoiler flying across the garage. Luckily, no one was hit by it.

"Go on, and say it!" Jamie snapped. "The world's waiting to hear what you have to say to me!" And he indicated towards the media.

Shocked that the fight had happened in front of the world's media, Shane's jaw hit the concrete floor. He glanced over at Leyland, who shrugged innocently. With tears pricking his eyes, Shane pushed through the media, heading for the team's main transporter.

Leyland turned to face the media. "I know that this has been exciting for all of you, but the reason I didn't send you away was because Shane needed a valuable lesson in sportsmanship. I hope he's learned it now, but out of respect for Jamie, could you please delete all photos and footage of the fight? Jamie was merely defending himself, and I don't want to see him plastered all over the headlines. You'll get your story anyway, because I'm sure the officials will want to investigate what happened. Please, everyone?"

Begrudgingly, the reporters began going back through their camera files, deleting everything. At least, Leyland hoped they were. He turned to Jamie.

"I'm sure some pictures and footage will slip through, sorry."

"It's okay, Leyland. I can handle it. Shane deserves to be slammed."

"I wouldn't go that far, but we'll all be asked some serious questions over this."

"Sorry."

"You have nothing to apologise for. It's Shane who needs to do the apologising."

…

While the fight was going on, Craig was inside the main transporter, talking to Sally on the phone.

"I'm afraid I don't know anything about his condition yet, Sally. All I know is that he regained consciousness before the paramedics got to him, and then he was taken to first aid."

"I'll be on the next flight to Tasmania," Sally insisted.

"You will not!" Craig told her firmly. "If you miss the call about your baby, Lightning will never forgive you! Lightning has enough support with him right now. Let me go and find out his condition, and then we'll decide if you should come down here or not, okay?"

"Okay," Sally reluctantly agreed. "Hang on. They're just giving an update on the TV."

"What are they saying?"

There was silence for a moment while Sally listened to the TV. Then Sally began speaking again. "Apparently, Chris Pither is being transferred to hospital for surgery. Lightning is listed as stable, but they didn't say what was wrong with him."

"I'll go and find out now, and I'll phone you once I know. Stay strong."

"I will."

Craig had just hung up his phone, when someone burst inside the transporter. He frowned when he saw that it was Shane.

"Are you still blaming Lightning for your own stupidity?" he asked bitterly.

Shane yelped when he heard Craig speak. "Oh! It's just you. I thought I'd be alone in here."

"Well, you're not. What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh, I've made a big mess of everything this time!"

"That doesn't surprise me. What happened?"

Fighting back his tears, Shane quickly explained about the fight with Jamie, and how the media had witnessed all of it. Craig tried to keep a straight poker face, even though inwardly he was laughing.

"So, what do you think I should do?" Shane asked desperately once he'd finished.

"I don't know why you're bothering to ask me, Mister Perfect," Craig replied. "You brought this down upon yourself, so you'll just have to learn from it, like the rest of us have. Okay, I get that you resent the rest of us because we seem to have everything, but that's no excuse for bullying. I've seen the way you push everyone around, and it was only a matter of time before someone cracked. You'll just have to live with it now. Excuse me. I have to go and check on my stepson."

When Craig emerged from the transporter, he was immediately confronted by the media, who were now waiting for Shane to emerge from the transporter.

"Oh, it's only Craig!" someone said with an air of disappointment.

"I have been racing since I was nine years old, and that's the first time anyone's ever referred to me as 'only Craig'!" Craig said, making everyone laugh. Leaving the media, Craig began driving towards first aid. He was followed by several reporters.

"Do you have any news on Lightning's condition?" one of them asked.

"I'm just going to see him now. You probably know more than I do."

"Do you know why Shane and Jamie fought?" another one asked.

"Sorry, but I can't answer that. Excuse me, please. I don't have time to answer your questions now."

Reluctantly, the reporters backed off. A moment later, Craig entered the first aid building. Seeing Elinor typing on a computer, he went over to her. He gave her a quick kiss on the fender.

"Hello darling. How's Lightning?"

"He's resting now. We had to do an oil change on him, but he seems to be recovering well. Dr Lee is going to install a new warning light in his dash, since he broke the same oil line that he broke two years ago."

Craig nodded. "Most of us have that warning light installed. I'm one of the few who doesn't. I think Jamie has one. He's had one too many crashes into concrete walls. Just don't mention that to him. He hates to be reminded of his 2010 wreck, because he knows it was his fault entirely. He got cocky, and it cost him the Championship that year."

"At least he seems to have learned his lesson. You can go and see Lightning if you want to. I have to finish updating his records. He's in that room."

Craig drove over to the examination room, and he looked inside. Lightning was on a hydraulic lift that was raised about ten centimetres off the ground. He was fast asleep with a warm rug draped over him. A drip went underneath his bonnet, which was opened slightly. Dr Lee joined Craig in the doorway.

"He'll be okay, Craig," Dr Lee assured him. "If he hadn't been so fit, it would've been touch-and-go, but he was awake and talking until we had to do the oil change. He's been out of it ever since, but he's responding really well. I'm just about to install the new warning light, so I'm afraid you'll have to leave. Elinor can let you know when you can see him again."

Craig nodded sadly. "Just take good care of him. That's all I ask."

"We will," Dr Lee promised.

…

"Shane and Jamie, your behaviour this afternoon was shocking, and completely unacceptable for professional racers," Jason Bargwanna, the driving standards official, said firmly. It was later that evening, and Jason, along with five other officials, had demanded an investigation into the fight Shane and Jamie had had that afternoon. Leyland and Dutto were also present, having been required to give evidence. Luckily, Leyland had managed to persuade the officials that Jamie had been the victim. He only hoped they wouldn't come down too hard on Jamie. He didn't really care what happened to Shane. _He needs to be severely disciplined._

"I understand that, sir," Jamie said quietly. "I didn't mean to bring the sport into disrepute."

Jason nodded slightly. "Apology accepted, Jamie. Do you have anything to say, Shane?"

Shane shook his front, but then he said, "What can I say other than 'sorry'?"

"Aren't you even the least bit remorseful?"

"Of course I am, but what good would that do? I've plead guilty to the charge of bringing the sport into disrepute. I know that is the most serious offence you can charge me with, and I'm prepared to accept the consequences. What I did wasn't just stupid; it was dangerous and completely irresponsible. I could promise to reform, but then you'd hold me to that. I'm prepared to try though, but on my own terms."

"Is that all?"

"I'm not a naughty schoolboy who's going to repeat everything you expect me to say!" Shane snapped. "I've plead guilty, so let's just get on with it so we can all get out of here."

Jason whispered to James Warburton, the V8 Supercars CEO, who was next to him on the panel. James whispered something back, and then Jason nodded. Finally, Jason spoke again.

"Mr Jamie Win-cup. In view of the fact that you did instigate the fight by slapping Shane first, this panel has decided to give you an official warning. Any further off-track misdemeanours for the rest of the year will be severely dealt with, and there will be no further warnings. Do you accept the penalty?"

"Yes, I accept the penalty as stated."

"Good. Do you have anything else you wish to add?"

"No, sir. Thank you."

"All right, you may stand down."

Jamie quickly drove over to where Leyland and Dutto were parked. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Thanks for standing up for me, Leyland," he whispered.

"Shh!" Leyland shushed, warning Jamie not to say anything that could make the officials change their minds.

"Mr Shane VanGearsbergen," Jason said firmly, staring straight at the quivering race car in front of him. Shane looked far from being the bully he'd been earlier. "In view of your plea of guilty to the change of bring the V8 Supercars into disrepute, and for fighting with a fellow racer in public, this panel has decided to fine you twenty-five thousand dollars, and ten points will be deducted from your Championship total. Do you accept the punishment?"

Shane glanced helplessly at Leyland. Ten points could make a big difference between winning and losing the Championship, but Leyland's expression was stern. There would be no appealing the decision.

"Yes, I accept the punishment," Shane said, his voice breaking. He just wanted to go and hide somewhere dark and quiet, but that wasn't likely to happen soon.

"Do you have anything else you wish to say?"

Shane shook his front. For a second, Jamie almost felt sorry for him. _What is wrong with this guy?_

"In that case, this inquiry is now closed. Thank you for your time, gentlemen. We'll see you all at Phillip Island."

As everyone began to leave the room, Jamie drove over to Shane, who still hadn't moved. "Shane?"

Shane jumped, and he glared glumly at Jamie. "What do you want?"

"I want to know why you act the way you do. You're a bully, and yet when things don't go your way, you completely fall apart."

"Why should I tell you anything? You wouldn't understand!"

"Try me! Look, Shane, none of us got to where we are today by chance. I swapped teams three times before I got signed with Triple Eight; Craig went to Europe, and then he had a massive fall-out with the Holden Racing Team before he came here, and as for Lightning…well, maybe it's best if you ask him about his past. For the record, Craig is his second step-father, so that should tell you something. Success doesn't come on a platter. We've all had to work bloody hard to get to where we are now. So, come on. What's your story?"

Shane exhaled deeply. "Oh, I suppose there's no harm in telling you. My parents; especially my father, always wanted to race, but they'd grown up poor. As you know, in the sixties and seventies, if you wanted to race in the V8s, you had to fund yourself. And being from New Zealand, their dream was hopeless. Then, when I came along, they poured all their spare savings into funding me. They _made_ me race, even though I didn't want to do that as a career! I wanted to be a police officer, like my uncle was. Anyway, they forced me to undergo countless operations to turn me into a proper racer. If you looked at pictures of me as a baby, you'd say I wasn't the same car. They pushed me a lot too. If I didn't win, I was punished. As a result, I started taking out my frustrations on everyone else. By the time I was good enough to join the V8s, I'd learned to hate racing and everything that went with it, but I couldn't quit because it was the only thing I knew. With my old team, my crew chief taught me to channel that hatred into getting consistent results. It took time, but he slowly taught me to love racing, and he ignited the fire and passion for the sport that you guys have. That's when I really started to improve. Then, last year, I realised I'd gone as far as I could with my old team, so my boss talked with Leyland, and this is the result. I've never really been a part of a team because I always raced alone. Nobody prepared me emotionally for this. So, now I guess you know everything."

Jamie was silent for a moment. He wasn't quite sure of what to say. Finally, seeing that the room was empty, he said, "Let's go. We can talk more once we get back to the hotel. I have a feeling that we're in for a long night."


	18. Chapter 18 - Baby McQueen

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 18 – Baby McQueen

 **Lightning and Sally's Mansion, Rochedale – 17kms from Brisbane – Wednesday 6** **th** **April, 2016.**

"Sally, will you please stop fussing over me!" Lightning said with frustration.

"I'm sorry, Stickers. I've just been so worried about you, that's all. You did have surgery today after all."

"It was a minor day surgery," Lightning grumbled. "I was in and out in six hours, and I'm perfectly fine now. Even my mother assured you of that!"

"Are you sure?"

"Perfectly. That oil line will never come lose again!"

"Never say never."

Lightning stuck his tongue out at Sally.

"Do that again, and you'll lose it!" Sally threatened.

"Sure!" Lightning said sceptically. He gave her a peck on the fender. "Let's go to bed. I'm rather tired."

"Why? You've been asleep for most of the day."

"Anaesthetic doesn't count!"

"Says who?"

"Says me! And I'm the man, so I get the final say!"

Sally smirked. "Haven't you heard the saying, 'women do not start fights, but they can finish them'?"

"Sure, I've heard it, and I think it's one of the silliest saying ever invented."

"Yeah, you would say that! Come on. I want to have some cuddles with you."

"Mmm…! You've got me excited!"

Minutes later, Lightning and Sally were snuggled down next to each other under a blanket in their bedroom. When Gracie drove past the room on her nightly round to ensure the house was secure, she paused when she heard a muffled giggle. Smiling knowingly to herself, she listened for a moment before continuing on her way.

…

 _Ring…! Ring…! Ring…!_

Groaning sleepily, Sally fumbled for her phone in the dark. "Hello?" she said heavily as she answered it.

"Sally McQueen?"

"Speaking."

"This is Doctor Holden from the Brisbane Car Factory. You have exactly two hours to get here, or you will forfeit your place on the waiting list. Code word – Supercars."

Sally gasped. The secret code word was used to ensure that the call was genuine. "I must be dreaming!"

"You're not, I can assure you. I'll see you soon."

Sally exhaled deeply as she hung up the phone. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was just after two-thirty in the morning. Then she nudged Lightning roughly. "Lightning! Wake up! Now! Our baby is about to be built!"

"What?" Lightning muttered groggily.

"Our baby is about to be built!"

Lightning was instantly awake. "What! But it can't be built now! It's three weeks early! What do we do?"

"The first thing is, don't panic. I'm sure it'll be fine, even if it is pre-mature. Lightning? Calm down and look at me! Good. Now, listen. I'll go wake up Gracie, and you can phone the family. I'll meet you at the front door in ten minutes."

Lightning pounced on his phone, and he speed-dialled Craig and Elinor.

…

Just under an hour later, Lightning, Sally and Gracie arrived at the factory. Since Lightning was still making calls on his phone, Sally went over to the reception desk.

"Mr and Mrs McQueen to see Doctor Holden."

"Let me just check… Yes! Can I see some I.D., please?"

Sally passed it over. After the receptionist had checked it, she passed it back.

"Thank you. I'll just let him know that you've arrived. Please, make yourselves comfortable. There's tea, coffee and oil available."

"Thank you."

After a few minutes, Lightning drove over to Sally and Gracie. "Mum and Craig are on their way. I also phoned my grandparents and Sherriff. Sherriff will let everyone in Radiator Springs know that our baby is on the way. Is there anyone else I should phone?"

"Not that I can think of," Sally replied. "At least, anyone else can wait until morning. Now, park yourself and relax."

"Relax? Are you crazy?" Lightning exclaimed. "We're about to become first-time parents, and all you can say is 'relax'? I haven't been this nervous since my first ever race in the Piston Cup!"

Dr Holden drove up behind Lightning. "Mr and Mrs McQueen?"

"Ah!" Lightning yelped, jumping and spinning around. "Please, don't do that! My nerves can't take much more."

"Sorry. I can give you something to help calm you down, if you like?" Dr Holden suggested.

"I can't take anything, sorry," Lightning replied. "I'm racing again in nine days, so I can't take anything that could show up in an oil test."

"I understand. Just let me know if you change your mind." Dr Holden turned towards Gracie. "Are you a relation?"

"No, I'm the nanny," Gracie replied.

"Ahh! I don't see many nannies these days. Well, I'm afraid you'll have to wait in another room. Do you have anyone else coming?"

"Yes, my mother and step-father," Lightning replied.

"They'll have to wait with your nanny. The receptionist can show them where to go when they get here. Come this way, please, and we can get everything started."

Dr Holden escorted the three of them down the hallway. After leaving Gracie alone in a waiting room, Dr Holden took Lightning and Sally into his office. Lightning closed the door behind them, while the doctor brought up their file on the computer.

"Now, Mr McQueen, you decided to have your DNA stored just in case you couldn't make it here, right?"

Lightning nodded. "I suppose that won't be necessary now though, will it?"

"We prefer to use fresh DNA," Dr Holden confirmed. "It helps to speed up the process. I guess the only thing left to do now is to take DNA samples from you both, and then we can begin the process. But before I do that, are you both one-hundred percent certain you want to have a baby?"

Without hesitation, Lightning and Sally nodded in unison.

"We're certain," Sally confirmed.

"Good. I'm sure you'll make excellent parents."

After Dr Holden had taken fresh DNA samples from both Lightning and Sally, he left to begin the process of having their baby built. Sally squeezed Lightning's tyre with her own.

"I just hope it'll be okay," she whispered fearfully.

Now it was Lightning's turn to be the voice of reason. "I'm sure it will be. My Jaguar Syndrome isn't hereditary, so I don't think anything else will go wrong."

"Why doesn't that ease my mind?" Sally grumbled.

"Perhaps this will…" And Lightning kissed Sally passionately on the lips. Sally reciprocated, grateful for the distraction.

…

Deep inside the factory, Dr Holden entered a secure room that resembled a hospital lab. Several technicians were in there, working quietly. Without saying a word, Dr Holden carefully transferred Lightning and Sally's DNA onto separate glass slides, which he then inserted into a computer. A message came up on the computer screen which read, 'Analysing DNA…'

Dr Holden smiled. The process of creating a new baby had really improved over the years, thanks to the advancement in technology. Twenty years ago, the parents would have to be scanned so that the computer could figure out what the new baby would look like. Nowadays, all they needed was DNA from both parents. The computer could do everything else.

After about thirty seconds, the message on the screen disappeared, and an image of what the new baby would look like came up onto the screen. Dr Holden raised his eyebrows in surprise at the result. However, he knew that the computer knew what it was doing, so he hit the 'start' button.

"Organic synthesis initiated," the computer said.

Knowing that the computer would be able to handle the rest of the process by itself, Dr Holden left the lab. He drove down a ramp the led to the factory floor, so he could watch the baby being built. It was something that never ceased to amaze him.

…

Meanwhile, Lightning and Sally had been moved into a small waiting room. Lightning had settled down to watch the TV, but Sally couldn't stop pacing anxiously. A nurse offered her a sedative, but she declined it. Sally glanced up at the clock. It was now just after 4:30 in the morning.

"Your parents have arrived," a nurse told Lightning. "They're with your nanny. Are you expecting anyone else?"

"No," Lightning replied. "Hey, do you have any hot chocolate?"

"Yes. Would you like one?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll have one too, thanks," Sally said.

"Sure, I'll fetch them for you. Would you like marshmallows as well?"

"Oh! Yes, please!" Lightning answered, grinning.

Chuckling, the nurse left to fetch the drinks.

…

Back on the factory floor, the machines had almost finished building the new baby. A couple of midwives joined Dr Holden. They began preparing the jump leads that would, hopefully, bring the new baby to life. Sometimes, the baby would be still-built. If it didn't come to life after ten minutes of being jump started, it was declared still-built.

Finally, a green light showed up on the machine, and then the new baby was rolled out on a conveyer belt. Dr Holden smiled as the midwives lifted the new baby's bonnet so they could attach the jump leads to its battery. This was always Dr Holden's favourite part. At his nod, one of the midwives flicked a switch, which sent a bolt of electricity straight into the baby's battery.

The baby automatically leapt backwards, gasping as it landed. Dr Holden watched closely, waiting for the baby to take another breath. Most babies needed two or three bursts of electricity to bring them to full consciousness, but sometimes only one burst would be needed.

The baby took another breath, and it flinched. Dr Holden breathed a sigh of relief. "It's a strong one…" He turned to the midwives. "Wrap it up and bring it to the examination room. I'll meet you there."

In the old days, the obstetricians used to present the new baby to its parents immediately, but that practice had changed when studies showed that it put too much stress on the parents. They'd have just bonded with their child, only to have it taken away from them for a medical exam. Now, the baby was examined first, and then presented to the parents. They could then bond with the child and take it straight home. Which is exactly what Dr Holden hoped the McQueens would be able to do very soon.

…

Back inside the waiting room, Lightning had lost interest in the TV and, having enjoyed their hot chocolate, he and Sally were now snuggled up next to each other, holding onto each other's tyre as the waiting game continued. Hearing someone enter the room, they both got up off their chassis'. Smiling broadly, Dr Holden drove into the room.

"Mr and Mrs McQueen? It gives me the greatest pleasure to present you with…your son."

Lightning and Sally both breathed heavy sighs of relief as a forklift midwife drove into the room, carrying a baby car wrapped up in a soft blanket. She gently placed the baby down on the ground in front of Sally. Sally carefully unwrapped the blanket, revealing a perfect, dark blue Dodge Viper. Lightning gasped in disbelief.

"He's a throwback," Lightning whispered. "He must be! Mum said I was supposed to be built as a dark blue Dodge Viper!"

"Obviously, it was still in your DNA," Sally said quietly. "Oh! His paintwork is metallic! Just like mine…"

The midwife gave Sally a bottle filled with baby oil. Smiling, Sally gently pressed the teat against the baby's lips. He instinctively latched onto the teat, drinking hungrily.

"He also has your appetite!" Sally laughed. Lightning snorted indignantly.

Dr Holden cleared his throat. "We've already given him a full medical, and we've given him a clean bill of health, so once he's had his fill, you can take him home. Now, we just need a name for his build certificate."

Lightning and Sally smiled at each other. They already knew what they were going to name their son…

…

A few minutes later, Lightning and Sally proudly entered the waiting room where Gracie, Elinor and Craig were. Lightning was carrying their baby son on his bonnet.

"Aww! Let me see it!" Elinor squealed, hurrying over to them.

"Boy or girl?" Craig asked.

"Boy," Sally replied.

Elinor was already unwrapping the baby. "Oh! He's adorable! And he's a Dodge Viper! I can't believe it!"

"What's his name?" Craig asked sensibly.

Grinning, Lightning and Sally spoke in unison. "Blaze Hudson Craig."

Tears filled Elinor's eyes. "You named him after all of your fathers?"

Lightning shrugged. "They've all played a huge part in my life. And, more importantly, Sally likes it."

Everyone laughed. With tears of joy streaming down her fenders, Elinor kissed Lightning on the cheek. "Are you sure you want to name him Blaze? Won't that be too painful for you?"

"Sally and I thought of the name several months ago. And no, it won't be too painful for me. I want my son to grow up to be just like dad was."

"Except that he'll be a race car, just like his own dad, right?"

Lightning shook his front. "I can't make that decision for him. No matter what career path he chooses, Sally and I will support him whole-heartedly."

Elinor nodded slowly. "I'm just sorry I didn't support you."

Lightning shrugged. "I still made it to where I wanted to be, so don't be too upset by that."

Gracie re-wrapped the blanket around baby Blaze, and she lifted him off Lightning's bonnet. Lightning tried to suppress a yawn, but failed.

"Come on, sleepyhead," Gracie said. "Let's get you home. I hope you're still feeling okay after your surgery?"

"Yeah," Lightning muttered sleepily. Now that all the excitement was over, fatigue had hit him like a brick wall.

"Uh, uh! You're not driving anywhere in that state!" Elinor told him firmly. She turned to Dr Holden. "Do you have a transporter or something, so that we can get Lightning home safely, please? He had day surgery yesterday, and I know it takes a while to recover from the anaesthetic."

Dr Holden nodded in understanding. "I'll go and arrange something for you. In the meantime, I'll send a nurse in, just to check his vitals."

"I'm fine…" Lightning muttered.

"That's the last thing you said before you blacked out during the last race," Craig firmly reminded him.

Lightning opened his mouth to respond, but since he couldn't think of anything to say, he closed it again. Just then, baby Blaze blinked open his eyes for the very first time.

"Oh!" Elinor exclaimed. "Sally! He's got your eyes!"

Sally gasped with delight as baby Blaze looked all around him, taking everything in. His eyes settled on Sally, and he smiled slightly. He seemed to recognise her as his mother.

"Aww! Isn't he just the sweetest little thing?" Sally whispered fondly. She gently brushed one of her tyres against his little cheek, making the baby coo.

Craig drove closer to Lightning, who was fighting to remain awake. "Listen, son, there's no point in fighting what you can't control. You're currently under doctors' orders to rest, so go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll be back at home."

With a soft moan, Lightning finally stopped fighting his fatigue, and he promptly drifted off to sleep. Craig remained with him, even when the nurse came in to check on him. He knew that the women would be too busy caring for the baby to be concerned with Lightning.

…

Two hours later, just as the sun was beginning to rise, the happy group arrived at Lightning and Sally's mansion. Lightning, Sally and baby Blaze were inside a transporter, while the others lead the way. Once they'd arrived, Gracie gently woke Lightning up just enough to get him inside the house and upstairs to the bedroom. She then went to help Sally get the baby settled in the nursery. Meanwhile, Elinor began making a heap of phone calls to all of their family and friends to tell them the wonderful news.

Craig stayed with Lightning. While he watched his step-son sleeping, he decided to phone Leyland. As expected, Leyland was already awake.

" _Morning, Craig!_ " Leyland said when he answered the phone. " _What makes you ring me this early? I hope you're not calling in sick._ " He meant it as a joke.

"Relax, Leyland," Craig replied. "I'm just ringing to let you know that Lightning won't be coming in at all today. I'm at his place now."

" _Well, I wasn't expecting Lightning to do any training because of his surgery, but he can still come to discuss racing strategy. Has something happened?_ "

"Let's just say that there's been a new addition to the family."

Leyland gasped. " _You mean, their baby's been built?_ "

"Yeah. In the early hours of this morning."

" _Don't keep me in suspense! Is it a boy or a girl?_ "

"Boy. He's a perfectly healthy Dodge Viper, named Blaze Hudson Craig."

" _Oh, how wonderful! A Dodge Viper? Wow! That's pretty special. I wouldn't be surprised if he grew up to be a racer. He'd make a brilliant endurance racer with his background._ "

"I understand that Lightning's grandfather and great-uncle were both endurance racers in Europe during the sixties and seventies, so anything's possible. But what I wanted to say was that, Lightning's thoroughly exhausted because of his surgery and of course the events of last night, so I think it's best to just let him rest completely today. He's sleeping right now. Couldn't keep his eyes open once he'd seen his son."

" _That's fine. I completely understand. Please tell him that we all want to see his son as soon as possible!_ "

"I will. I'll see you in a few hours for training."

" _Okay, but please don't rush. If you can't make it here on time today, that's fine. I'll forgive you this once!_ "

"Thanks. I really appreciate that. See you soon."

Craig smiled as he hung up the phone. He knew that Lightning and Sally would be fantastic parents. And, as far as he could tell, they were lucky. So far, Blaze was a very quiet baby. He only hoped that would last.

A distant loud, piercing cry told Craig that his hopes had just been dashed.

 **Hey everyone! First of all, I am so sorry it's taken me so long to update. I had numerous computer issues last weekend, so I've decided to upgrade my laptop to a desktop. That's going to take a few weeks to set up, but in the meantime I've managed to sort out a back-up option in case my laptop decides to crash again. It will be slower though, so please be patient with me. I update when I'm 100% happy with a chapter. Also, please be aware that my main** **focus for this story is racing. I'm sorry if some of you feel that I'm not including Sally in it enough, but I am not a romance writer, so I prefer to push that aspect aside. Yes, they're happily married, but I don't need to repeat that fact in every single chapter. It gets too repetitive that way. Lightning is my principle character, not Sally**.

I **was planning to update last night, but I spent the whole day watching the Triple Eight Race Engineering (Red Bull Racing Australia) team have their test day out at Queensland Raceway, and I was too tired to stay up late writing. They only have three test days a year, but it was awesome! You were allowed to go almost everywhere, including the pit lane wall to watch, and I ended up getting some amazing photos! There weren't many people their either (maybe about a hundred fans) so you could really get up close and personal with the whole team. I got to speak briefly to Craig Lowndes, but since he was obviously wanting to get some lunch, I didn't stop him for long. There was even one moment when Roland Dane (Leyland in my stories) stood right in front of the safety fence I was leaning on. I got to hear him discussing strategy and car set up with the engineers, which was really cool. He looked so relaxed as well, which really surprised me. I guess he was happy with how the day unfolded. Hopefully, the team got the results they were looking for and that the rest of the year goes even better for them. I really learned a lot too, so it was totally worthwhile!**


	19. Chapter 19 - Baby Blaze's First Day Out

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 19 – Baby Blaze's First Day Out

 **Triple Eight Race Engineering Headquarters, Banyo, 13kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Monday, 11** **th** **April, 2016.**

"Aww! Just look at those huge eyes!"

"He's so adorable!"

"Wow! A baby Dodge Viper! I've never seen one so small!"

"Is he ticklish?"

Lightning and Sally grinned proudly as the Triple Eight Race Engineering team members admired their four-day-old baby. This was the first time they'd taken baby Blaze anywhere, but the little one seemed to be coping rather well with all of the attention. Perched safely on Sally's bonnet, Blaze stared up at everyone, blinking his big, blue eyes every now and again.

Elinor and Gracie were also there, to help Lightning and Sally look after Blaze. It was Lightning's first full day back at training since the little operation he'd undergone last week to repair his damaged oil line. He was feeling much better now, and he was keen to get back into training.

Baby Blaze cooed a little as he stared at the unfamiliar faces all around him. Reaching out with one of his tyres, Leyland gently tickled the little car. Giggling, Blaze rolled over onto his roof, kicking his little tyres in the air.

"Aww!" all of the women sighed in unison.

"I think he has your charm, Sally," Leyland said as he retracted his tyre.

Sally blushed profusely. Jamie cleared his throat.

"May I hold him, please, Sally?"

"Sure!" And Sally carefully transferred Blaze onto Jamie's bonnet. Crawling further up Jamie's bonnet, Blaze tried to touch his eyes with one of his little tyres.

"Urgh! Stop that!" Jamie exclaimed, closing his eyes. Gracie quickly pulled Blaze away from Jamie's eyes.

"No!" she said firmly. "That's naughty!"

But Blaze was too young to know that. He stared curiously at the Redbulldozer sponsor's stickers on Jamie's bonnet. Then he looked over at Craig and Shane. He was obviously confused by the fact that they all looked exactly the same as his dad.

"Uh, Lightning?" Shane began awkwardly. "My I hold him too, please? I've never held a baby before, so it's okay if you say no…"

Lightning was surprised. He was about to refuse, when he saw Jamie nod slightly, taking care not to let Blaze slide off his bonnet. "Uh…sure, Shane. You may hold him if you really want to."

Jamie carefully transferred Blaze over to Shane's bonnet. Blaze began bouncing up and down on his springs, giggling excitedly.

"He's not going to fall off, is he?" Shane asked nervously.

"No," Sally assured him. "And even if he does, he'll just bounce. Baby cars are really tough."

Shane breathed a small sigh of relief. "That's good." A moment later, Shane felt something wet and warm running down his bonnet. "Oh, yuck! He just leaked on me!"

Cringing, Sally quickly took Blaze back, while Gracie set about cleaning the leaked oil off Shane's bonnet.

"They say that kids are good judges of character…" Lightning said, shrugging innocently. Jamie nudged him.

"I need to talk to you later," he whispered.

"Okay, everyone!" Leyland said loudly. "Show and tell time is over! It's time to get back to work."

The group reluctantly broke up. Leyland turned towards Lightning.

"Lightning? Doctor Andrews wants to see you before you go to the training room."

Groaning, Lightning turned to Sally. "I have to go. Guess I'll see you back at home."

"Yeah," Sally replied, and she planted a kiss on his fender. "Don't do anything silly today, Stickers."

"As if I would!"

"Lightning!" Dr Andrews called.

"Just coming!" Lightning shouted back. Then, he planted his lips over Sally's, kissing her intently. Blaze, who was still sitting on Sally's bonnet, started imitating the kissing motion with his lips. Jamie, Craig and Shane burst out laughing. Even Leyland couldn't suppress his grin.

"Come on, cheeky," Sally said once Lightning had broken off the kiss. "It's time to get you home for your nap."

"Lightning!" Dr Andrews shouted. "Do you think you can switch into race car mode for a moment, and get yourself into my office? I don't have all day!"

Smirking, Lightning instantly accelerated, and he raced over to where Dr Andrews was standing. But instead of stopping, Lightning drifted on the polished concrete past Dr Andrews, and he raced inside the doctor's office, where he skidded to a stop.

"Was that fast enough for you?" Lightning teased once Dr Andrews had joined him.

Dr Andrews closed the office door. "Very funny! Leyland nearly had to peel me off the wall back there! Obviously, becoming a dad isn't going to slow you down, is it?"

"Did you really expect that?"

"No, I suppose I didn't. Craig was exactly the same when he became a father…" Turning to his computer, Dr Andrews brought up Lightning's file. "Now, have you had any issues or side-effects since your operation last week?"

"Other than being a bit tired, no."

"I suppose we can put that tiredness down to becoming a new father anyway. Has the baby been keeping you up at all?"

"A little bit, but that's more because Sally gets up a lot in the night to check on him."

"In that case, we'll have to make sure you get a lot of sleep during race weekends. Now, I need to take a look at your oil line, so jump up onto the lift for me, please."

"I think jumping is a bit beyond my capabilities," Lightning said as he drove up the ramp onto the hydraulic lift.

"Oh? I thought Lightning McQueen could handle-"

"Don't you dare!" Lightning snapped, holding up a tyre to stop him.

Dr Andrews laughed. "Touchy! Okay, okay... In all seriousness, let's get on with this…"

…

After his tests had been completed, Lightning joined the others in the training room. They were in there for about two hours, before Dutto told them to take a break for lunch.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Lightning asked Jamie as they made their way through the cafeteria line.

"Not here. Let's find a table by ourselves, and then I'll tell you."

A few minutes later, Lightning and Jamie were parked at a table beside the floor-to-ceiling window that looked out onto the tiny courtyard.

"Now, what's up?" Lightning asked.

"I think you should know that Shane and I have decided to bury our differences and become friends."

Lightning nearly choked on his food. "I think I'd better go back and see Doctor Andrews! I must have misheard you. Did you just say that you and Shane are now friends?"

"You did," Jamie said seriously.

Lightning shook his front. "I was wrong. I don't need to see Doctor Andrews. You do!"

"Lightning, will you please stop being silly and listen?"

"Right, sorry."

Jamie then told Lightning everything Shane had told him about his past. By the time he'd finished, Lightning's demeanour had changed.

"How terrible! Being forced into doing something you don't want to do… I can completely relate to that!"

"Me too," Jamie sighed. "I've always envied Craig. He was born into a racing family, and luckily, that's all he ever wanted to do. I guess that's why Shane hated us. We were strong enough to stand up for ourselves, and he wasn't."

"That's hardly our fault!"

"I know. But jealousy is a powerful disease. It can really eat away at you if you let it. Anyway, I'm now going to help Shane learn to love racing."

Lightning was shocked. "But that could cost you the Championship!"

"Perhaps. But, I've won so many of them already, so even though I'd love to win another one, it'd give me the greatest satisfaction to help someone else."

Lightning exhaled deeply. "Now I completely understand. Maybe that's what I should focus on when I return to the Piston Cup…"

Jamie raised his eyelids in surprise. "You've decided to go back then?"

"No… But I am leaning in that direction."

Jamie nodded. "I know this isn't an easy decision for you. But you must make your decision based on what's best for you and your family. We'll all miss you if you do go back to America, but you have a house here now, and you're both permanent residents; not to mention the fact that your baby is also an Australian citizen, so you can always come back whenever you want."

"True…" Lightning mused.

"Perhaps, you could come back regularly to race in the Enduro Cup?" Jamie suggested.

"Maybe…"

Dutto drove over to them then. "I hate to break up this 'mother's meeting', but it's time to get back to the training room."

"Right," Lightning said, reversing away from the table. "So, what's the schedule for this afternoon?"

"Well, I want you to focus on your stamina this arvo, and Jamie, I want you focusing on your speed. You're slacking off again."

Jamie rolled his eyes. "I'll improve, Dutto."

"You'd better, or we might have to take drastic action with you again, just like we did last year."

"I am NOT having more surgery!" Jamie snapped.

"I didn't say anything about having more surgery, did I? Now, hurry up. I don't have all day."

"Neither do we!" Lightning retorted cheekily.

Dutto frowned. "Fatherhood's really making you cheekier, isn't it?"

Lightning stuck his tongue out at Dutto, before he quickly scampered away. Dutto glanced at Jamie, who shrugged innocently.

"Remind me to look at his diet," Dutto muttered. "Something must be making him hyper."

"He's just happy," Jamie said. "I would be too if I became a father."

"Do you want to be a dad?"

"Of course! But, I haven't found the right woman yet, so I'm just going to keep my racing career at the top of my priorities for now."

"You and Kori were getting along well for a while," Dutto said thoughtfully.

"Don't bring that up again! I'm glad we broke up. She was a big distraction."

"Was she? Then how come Craig and Lightning manage to have their wives at the racetrack without them being a 'distraction'?"

Jamie frowned thoughtfully. Dutto did have a point. Craig and Lightning were never distracted by their wives. "Perhaps, I'm just not meant to be in a relationship," he muttered sadly.

"Don't lose heart, Jamie. You'll find the right girl for you, believe me!"

Jamie only wished he could.

 **Hey everyone! I am really sorry I've taken so long to update! I've been having some serious computer issues (I couldn't even use my computer for a week!), and then I was sick with a cold and asthma, so yeah, things haven't been too good for me lately. I'm over the cold now, but my asthma is getting worse, so I'll be getting more treatment for it next week. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as I think it is. And, now that my computer is working okay again, my updates will be much more regular again (I hope!) Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I think it's pretty cute.**


	20. Chapter 20 - Day 1 at Phillip Island

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 20 – Day 1 at Philip Island

 **Day 1 at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island, Victoria – Saturday, 16 April, 2016**

"Cut!"

Craig exhaled deeply. "Did I muck up my line again?"

"Yes," the director replied. "The word is _professional_. You said processional."

Jamie, Shane and Lightning sniggered quietly, earning a cross glare from Craig. Even though it was a racing weekend, Leyland had arranged for one of their sponsors, Tyremart, to film a new advertisement before their third practice session. The team hadn't done too badly in both of their practice sessions the day before. Craig had ended up winning the first practice session, while Lightning had come in twelfth. Jamie had been in third, and Shane had come sixth. The second practice session had been good for Shane and Lightning, who'd finished in third and eighth respectively. Craig had come in fourteenth, while Jamie had struggled in nineteenth. At least they'd been able to get some valuable data, which would help them come race time later that afternoon.

Craig sighed tiredly. "You directors seems to forget that we're not _professional_ actors."

"Look, it's not difficult. Just concentrate, say your line correctly, and we'll move on. It'd be fantastic if we can get this done in one complete take. I hate editing… Right, let's reset and go again."

Reluctantly, Craig reversed a little way up pit lane, so he could drive back into the team's pit bay. A clapperboard was held in front of the camera.

"Scene one, camera one, take five."

As soon as he heard the clapperboard snap, Craig drove into the pit bay, where he stopped, and the pit crew set about changing his tyres. Owing to the V8 Supercar rules about tyre usage, the ones they were using for the filming were standard road tyres. They'd be CGI altered later to smooth out the surface and make them look like proper, slick racing tyres.

"On the track, we all have a professional pit crew to help us," Craig said, looking towards the camera.

On cue, Jamie drove in alongside Craig, taking care not to accidentally hit any of the pit crew. The camera panned across to him as he picked up the next line. "And you can also have that same professional experience whenever you visit your local Tyremart store."

Now, it was Lightning's turn to say his line. He drove in next to Jamie, and the camera panned across to him. "With over three hundred Tyremart stores around the country, the… Oh, Chrysler! I've forgotten what comes next!"

The director groaned as the four race cars started laughing again. "Cut! Seriously, is it that hard to remember just one line?"

"Sorry," Lightning apologised. "I haven't had to do anything like this for a few years now. Plus, I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Blaze kept you up again, did he?" Craig asked with concern.

Lightning tried to stifle a yawn, but failed. "Yeah. His regular feeding times are at eleven, one a.m., three a.m. and five a.m. Sally does her best to keep him quiet, but when he wants something, he just screams."

"Reminds me of when Luke was born," Craig mused. "Just be careful. You don't want to get too fatigued."

"Don't worry. I've ordered a set of sound-blocking earmuffs. Unfortunately, they won't arrive for a few weeks."

"Rather you than me," Shane teased. He meant it kindly, and Lightning knew this. Since the truth behind Shane's bullying had been revealed, things were really starting to change between them. Lightning wouldn't have said they were friends – not yet, anyway – but they were working on it.

"Okay, that's enough chit-chat," the director interjected. "Let's go from the top. McQueen? Have you remembered your line now?"

"With over three-hundred Tyremart stores around the country, the team at Tyremart are always there to help assist you when you're selecting a new set of tyres," Lightning said.

"Excellent! Don't forget it again. I hope you haven't forgotten your line, van Gearsbergen?"

"So come into a store today, or check out their website at Tyremart dot com dot au," Shane recited.

"Perfect! Right, let's go for another take. From the top!"

Craig had just reversed when Lightning's phone rang.

"Turn that off!" the director snapped.

"Sorry, but it's my wife," Lightning explained as he drove a bit further down pit lane. "Sal? What's up?"

" _Lightning, can you call the track security, please? The media are hounding me. They're all trying to get photos of Blaze, and he's getting upset._ "

Lightning groaned in disbelief. "Sure, I'll do it now. Where are you?"

" _I'm in front of the tunnel near the media zone. I can't get through to get to the pits._ "

Lightning could hear Blaze wailing in the background. He was beginning to wonder if it'd been a good idea to bring Sally and Blaze with him, but he really wanted to spend as much time as possible with his family.

"Stay there. I'll come and get you."

" _Aren't you busy?_ "

"I'm never too busy for you, my love," Lightning told her kindly. Then he hung up his phone. Turning, he came face-to-face with one very angry director.

"Turn your phone off, now!" the director snapped.

"Not unless you're Steven Spielberg," Lightning retorted.

"Who? Oh! Come on! I don't have all day, you know. Time is money to me."

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't do this right now. My wife needs me."

"This will only take a second if you do it right," the director said, giving Lightning a rough push. It didn't hurt, but it made Lightning cross.

"Leyland!" Lightning shouted.

"What's wrong now?" Leyland asked, coming out of the pit garage.

"Sally's in trouble, and your director friend here won't let me go to help her."

"I just need one good take, without any mistakes!" the director told Leyland. "They've been fooling around all morning, and-"

"Go to Sally, Lightning," Leyland said kindly. "I'll take care of this."

"Thanks!" Lightning gushed gratefully, before quickly driving away. He got on his radio as soon as he'd left the pits. "Security? This is Lightning McQueen. I need you down near the tunnel, on the west side. The media are harassing my wife and new-built son."

" _Copy that, McQueen. We'll be there as soon as possible._ "

"Thank you. Much appreciated."

Lightning was shocked when he saw just how packed the tunnel was, owing to the media pack on the other side. Nobody could get through, and many cars were impatiently honking their horns. Before he could get blocked in himself, Lightning reversed, and he headed towards the nearby overpass. It was a longer way around, but at least he'd be able to get to the other side much faster.

When Lightning reached the media pack, he was furious to see them all shouting questions at once, and aiming their cameras at poor Sally and Blaze, who he couldn't even see because of the crowd. Fuelled with adrenalin, Lightning began to try and push his way into the crowd, but it was too thick.

"Sally!" Lightning called out desperately, but he couldn't be heard above the shouting. Just then, the track security arrived, blaring their sirens.

"Everyone, get back!" one of the security cars ordered. "Get back, or I'll arrest the lot of you! You're blocking a public access route!"

Lightning quickly moved out of the way, to avoid the rush as the media reluctantly began to disperse. Seeing a security car nearby, he drove over to him.

"Is my wife and son okay?" he asked fearfully.

"Lightning?" Sally called weakly.

Seeing her at last, Lightning drove over to her. "Sally! Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so, but they were crushing me."

"Where's Blaze?"

Hearing his name, Blaze cautiously peeked out from beneath Sally's undercarriage, where he'd been hiding. Tears of relief filled Lightning's eyes, and he quickly scooped his tiny son onto his bonnet.

"I'm taking you both to first aid," he decided. "I don't care what you say, Sal, I need to be sure that you're both okay."

"I know," Sally agreed. "I'll probably need something to help calm my nerves anyway. That was terrifying! I always thought the Australian press were well behaved. Now I know not to let them see a celebrity's new-built baby!"

"I'm hardly a celebrity," Lightning scoffed.

"Tell that to your millions of fans," Sally teased.

"I'm glad to see that your sense of humour is still intact. Let's get out of here before they decide to come back."

…

Lightning was feeling completely exhausted well before race time. Sally and Blaze had both been given the all-clear by Elinor, which had been a great relief to all of them. After that, Lightning had returned to the pits to fulfil his role in the advertisement. It had only taken two more takes to get it right. He'd then put in a poor performance during qualifying, which wasn't helped by the light rain that fell, and he only managed to get twenty-first place on the grid. He was disappointed, of course, especially since the others had all managed to get into the top ten on the grid. After the qualifying round, Dutto, Tony and Leyland asked to see Lightning inside the transporter.

"Lightning, I'm not quite sure where to begin," Leyland said.

"I know, I need to do much better," Lightning sighed. "I'm just so tired though…"

"Perhaps you shouldn't bring your family to race weekends until your son is a little bit older," Dutto suggested.

"But I want to spend time with them!" Lightning protested. "They're my family!"

"But it's affecting your racing," Tony pointed out. "I'm sorry, but this is exactly why most racers choose to remain as bachelors. You really need to consider your priorities. I know this sounds harsh, but this is the career path you've chosen, so you need to learn to accept that you can't have everything you want."

Lightning shook his front miserably. If he was honest with himself, he loved his family more than he loved racing, but he wasn't ready to retire. Not yet anyway. _And hopefully, not for many years to come_ , he added silently to himself.

"I will do better, guys," he promised.

"You'd better, or we might have to take drastic action," Leyland said, frowning sternly. "Like we did with Jamie last year. Now, let's focus on the race, please. Lightning, I want you to live up to your name today. Forget about everything that's happened this morning, and just focus on what you need to do."

Sighing despondently, Lightning left the transporter. Outside, he came face-to-face with the media.

 _This can't be happening!_

"Lightning, why didn't you announce the fact that your son had been built?"

"What's his name?"

"How old is he?"

"Is the Dodge Viper DNA on your side of the family, or Sally's?"

Lightning tried to push his way through the media pack, but it was no good. There were just too many of them. Someone stuck a camera in Lightning's face. That was simply too much for him right then, and he snapped. Lunging forwards, Lightning smacked the camera out of his way, sending it crashing to the ground.

"JUST GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Lightning screamed, fully enraged. "AND LEAVE MY FAMILY ALONE!"

Luckily, at that moment, track security showed up. "THAT'S IT!" one of the security cars shouted. "All non-V8 Supercars media is officially banned from the pits! Get back to your designated area now!"

As the media scampered away, the camera car who'd had his camera smashed by Lightning looked at it sadly. He was a young, freelance sports journalist, looking for his first big break into mainstream media. That camera was his pride and joy. He'd saved for five years to purchase it, and it was his only asset.

Shaking his front as he silently chided himself, Lightning began to pick up the damaged camera and pass it back to the young journalist. "I'm really, really sorry if I broke it," Lightning apologised. "I'll pay for any damage. You just don't understand what it's like having those things in your face all the time. You've also caught me on a really bad day."

"I'm sorry too, Mr McQueen," the young journalist said as he examined his camera, which miraculously was still recording. There were a few chips and scratches on the outer case, but that was about all that was visibly damaged. "We're just doing our job."

"And I'm just trying to do mine. Speaking of which, I'd better get back to the pits. I hope I didn't hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks."

"If you need to, just send the repair bill to me at Redbulldozer Racing Australia."

"I will, thank you."

Nodding, Lightning drove away.

…

Lightning's day did not improve, even as the race got underway. He had a bad start off the grid, dropping down a position from his starting grid position of twenty-first. From there, he continued to struggle, despite having a clean pit stop. He did his best, but he only ended up finishing in eighteenth position – his worst result yet. Overwhelmed, and feeling like he'd been a complete failure in front of his son, Lightning hid in the corner of his pit garage immediately after the race was over, so he could have a good cry all by himself. After a while, Craig went over to him.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Lightning shook his front miserably as his tears continued to flow. "I screwed up," he whispered.

"No, you didn't. Sure, you had a bad day racing, but these sorts of days will happen to all of us. Whenever I had a bad day on the track, Brocky used to just pull me aside and remind me that bad days are good for character building. And he always asked me, 'What did you learn from today?' So, what have you learned from today?"

"That I need to focus more on racing, and not worry about the little things I can't control?" Lightning suggested.

"That, and perhaps you really need to consider if it's worth having your family come to watch you race. Studies have shown that athletes perform worse whenever they compete in front of their families."

Lightning's eyes widened as that realisation dawned on him. "I-I never considered that. I just wanted to spend more time with them."

"I was the same way when Luke was built. I wanted him to see daddy race, but then Brocky noticed that I wasn't being as bold on the track as I was when Luke and my ex-wife weren't there. It's a subconscious reaction that we can't control, even though we'd like to be able to."

Lightning nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose that does make sense…I'll think about it, okay? If I don't do well tomorrow, I'll ask Sally to stay at home with Blaze on the next racing weekend. I know she won't mind. She doesn't like watching me race at the track anyway. She'd rather watch it on TV."

"So would Elinor. But I suppose I don't need to tell you about your own mother, do I?"

"Hardly!" Lightning smiled in spite of himself.

"That's it. Dry your tears, and we'll head back to the hotel, so you can get a good night's sleep. Would you like to share my room, and then Elinor can share with Sally?"

"No, but thanks for the offer. I'll ask Dutto if he has a broken headset I can use to sleep with tonight. That might just be enough to block out the worst of Blaze's wailing!"

 **Thank you so much for your reviews! To answer guest's question, no, I haven't planned to write a story about Blaze. Now that I know the basic plot for Cars 3, I'd like to try and fit my next sequel in around that, just like I've done with the first two films. Blaze will feature a lot from now on though, because, like everyone else, I think he's pretty cute too! I've had a lot of fun creating him in my imagination, so I'd like to keep him as a main character from now on. I'm just so glad you all like him! I was a bit worried about that, since in most other Cars fanfics I've read, Lightning and Sally always seem to have a baby girl, and I really wanted them to have a boy. I like being different and unpredictable when it comes to my stories, lol!**


	21. Chapter 21 - Day 2 at Phillip Island

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 21 – Day 2 at Phillip Island

 **Day 2 at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island, Victoria – Sunday, 17 April, 2016**

"I'm glad you understand, Sal," Lightning said as the McQueen family ate their breakfast inside the hotel room they were sharing. "I just don't want you to think that I'm putting racing before my family. You mean everything to me." Lightning tickled Blaze under his front bumper, making the baby giggle.

"I would never think that, Stickers," Sally replied. "Racing is your career, and it's very important that you do your best. Beside, I'm happier watching you race from the safety of the lounge room at home; especially after the media's reaction to Blaze yesterday."

"Well, the alternative would be to get you a body guard for whenever you're at the racetrack, but I know you won't be impressed with that."

"You're right. I won't stand for that!"

As if he was agreeing with her, Blaze playfully grabbed his bottle of baby oil between both of his front tyres, forcing some of the oil to squirt out of the teat. The baby oil flew through the air, until it landed right on top of Lightning's bonnet.

"Oh, yuck!" Lightning exclaimed. Blaze giggled again.

"That's not 'yuck'," Sally said as she wiped the oil off Lightning. "Wait until he throws up on you."

"Urgh!" Lightning shuddered. "Oh, Chrysler! Is that the time? I need to get to the pits. I'll see you both later, okay?"

After kissing his family goodbye, Lightning hurried out of their hotel room. In the aisle, he caught up with Jamie, who was also making his way to the racetrack.

"What's wrong with you?" Jamie asked when he saw Lightning dry wretch.

"Do yourself a favour, and don't have any kids!" Lightning replied, gasping for air. "They're disgusting!"

"What did Blaze do?"

"You don't wanna know…"

Jamie raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he didn't press further. He decided to change the topic as they entered the lift. "Have you seen the headlines this morning?"

"I didn't even get to turn on the TV! What's happened?"

"Let's just say that Blaze is the main topic of conversation…"

"Oh, no!" Lightning groaned in disbelief.

"But there's worse…"

"What could be worse than that?"

"Your attack on that journalist."

"But I apologised to him! And I offered to pay him for any damages."

"The media don't care about that. It's a good story, so they'll do everything they can to hype it up. Brace yourself for the onslaught…"

Sure enough, as soon as Jamie and Lightning emerged from the hotel foyer, the media swarmed around them. Questions were shouted at them from all directions while Jamie and Lightning attempted to escape the mob, but it was useless. They were trapped. Jamie quickly phoned Leyland.

"Leyland, Lightning and I need back-up," Jamie said. "The media have us trapped outside the hotel. They'll be after Sally and Blaze next."

Lightning didn't hear Leyland's reply, but he guessed the team boss was livid. Someone stuck a camera in Lightning's face.

"McQueen, are you going to apologise to the journalist you injured yesterday?"

Lightning turned away. Jamie had been right. As usual, the media weren't interested in the truth. They only wanted a story that would make him look bad.

At that moment, the police arrived. It took some time, but the media were eventually forced to move on. Jamie and Lightning gratefully accepted the police escort to the racetrack, while another couple of police officers waited for Sally and Blaze to escort them to the racetrack as well.

…

About an hour later, Lightning found himself facing the officials. They'd already conducted their own investigation the evening before, when the news of Lightning's attack on the journalist had broken in the mainstream media, and now they wanted to hear Lightning's version of events.

"So, you admit that you lost your temper?" one of the officials asked once Lightning had finished.

"Yes. I think most racers would in that situation."

"Perhaps, but we're talking about you here. Luckily, your version collaborates with what the journalist told us last night. He won't be pressing any assault charges, but he would like compensation for his damaged camera."

"I knew he would, and I told him I was happy to pay it, once he knows how much it'll cost."

"Then, that's between you and him. In the meantime, we want you to do a press conference to clear your name. Otherwise, we could fine you for bringing the V8 Supercars into disrepute."

"I'll do the press conference," Lightning quickly agreed. "When?"

"Before the race starts this afternoon. That should give you enough time to plan what you want to say."

"Very well then."

…

 _Can this weekend get any worse?_ Lightning thought as he glanced out of the refuge that was the Redbulldozer pits. He frowned when he saw another media pack standing there, taking photos and footage of him. _Yes._

Lightning had just qualified for the race in eighteenth. Jamie had done much better, qualifying in second. Shane and Craig had qualified in sixth and ninth respectively. Obviously, the media presence wasn't just having a direct effect on Lightning. For a fleeting moment, Lightning even considered pulling out of the race, but he dismissed the thought just as quickly.

 _I've started from worse positions before in the Piston Cup_ , he thought as few minutes later as he drove into the conference room. _It's time to show the media that they can't get the better of me…_

"Thank you all for coming," an official said to the media once he saw that Lightning had arrived. "The reason for the press conference is to clear up some issues surrounding the incident between Lightning McQueen and a journalist yesterday. Please save all questions till the end. I'll now hand over to Mr McQueen."

Flashes from hundreds of cameras filled the room as Lightning drove onto the small platform at the front of the room. After he'd taken a deep breath to try and compose himself, Lightning spoke into the microphone.

"Thank you. As I'm sure you're all aware by now, this year marks ten years since I first entered the world stage as a racer. The events surrounding my rookie year in the Piston Cup are well documented, so I won't dwell on that. During these last ten years, I'm sure that those of you from the international media in particular, will have noticed how private I have become; especially in more recent years. I'm sure the reason is quite obvious. I don't care what kind of crazy lies you might come up with about me, but when it comes to my family, I will do anything to protect them from the world I chose to enter. I don't deny that I did lash out at a journalist yesterday, but how many of you would have tolerated having a camera within inches of your own face? Don't you understand just how stressful it is to have you lot following us around everywhere? Normally, I blame myself for a poor performance on the racetrack, but this weekend, I know exactly who to blame – you, the media. And it's gotten to the point where, unless you back off and let me do what I do best, I will hire a bodyguard to protect myself and my family from you. That's all I have to say. I will only answer three questions."

"Mr McQueen? Why didn't you tell the media that your baby had been built?"

"Why should I? If you'd bothered to look at my official website, you would've seen a full press release there with the announcement, including a request for the media to keep their distance from my family. Sally and I were planning to release some gorgeous photos of Blaze when we felt we were ready, but since the media jumped the gun, you will NEVER see those photos. And, I can promise you, it will be many months, maybe even years, before you ever see Blaze at a racetrack again. Next question?"

There was silence for a moment while Lightning's tirade sank in, but then someone bravely spoke up.

"Why won't you apologise to the journalist you injured yesterday?"

"Because, if you watch the footage in full, you'll see that I've already apologised to him. Also, he was completely uninjured. I only knocked the camera off its mount, and I will be giving him compensation for the damage incurred."

The silence lingered as the journalists looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well, if that's all, I have to go and get ready for the race," Lightning said quickly, before he hurried out of the room.

Outside, Craig was waiting for him. "That was good! Probably a little heavy-tyred towards the end there, but you had them in control the whole time."

"I learned from the best," Lightning replied, shrugging. "You told me that 'attack is the best form of defence'."

"It sure is. Now, let's get ready to race."

…

"That's it, Lightning! Keep pushing yourself!" Tony encouraged over the radio. Lightning was just coming to the end of lap thirty-three out of forty-five. He'd had an average start to the race, but had fallen back to twentieth a few laps earlier. Now, Lightning was trying to gain his original place back.

Lightning raced flat out down the home straight, trying to stay in front of Heimgartner and Bright, whom he was racing against. Halfway down the home straight, Lightning's weekend went from bad to worse when his front right-hand tyre suddenly burst.

"Ow!" Lightning yelped as Heimgartner smacked straight into the back of him.

"Sorry!" Heimgartner called as he raced on past.

Lightning only just managed to keep himself on the tarmac as his tyre disintegrated beneath him. "Tony!" he screamed in despair.

"Can you make it back to the pits?" Tony asked soothingly.

"Probably. But that's my day done."

"I'm sorry. Sadly, these things just happen. Take your time. They've just deployed the safety car."

Lightning limped pathetically back to the pits. Knowing that Sally and Blaze were watching on from the VIP section, he refused to shed any tears. Looking up, he saw Blaze pressing his front tyres against the glass safety barrier above the Redbulldozer pit garages. Blaze looked like he was about to burst into tears. Wanting to alleviate his son's fears, Lightning smiled, and he waved a tyre at Blaze. The baby Dodge Viper promptly waved back, but the worry never left his face.

 _Now I know why my mother didn't want me to race. I won't bring Blaze back to the racetrack until he's old enough to understand what's going on._

Jamie and Craig ended up producing the best results for the team, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Shane finished in tenth, while Lightning finished in twenty-third place, or rather, last place, if you didn't count the three DNFs.

 _Perhaps this is a sign for me to return to the Piston Cup_ , Lightning thought sadly after the race was over. He smiled when he saw Sally and Blaze enter the pit garage. Grinning, Blaze bounced up and down on Sally's bonnet.

"Bubba!" Blaze exclaimed excitedly, and he pounced onto Lightning's bonnet.

"I get the feeling that Blaze would be better suited to being a stunt car than a racer," Lightning chuckled. "This kid love to jump!"

"Whatever he becomes, we'll be very proud of him," Sally said as she nudged Lightning's fender. "Are you tired?"

"Very,"

"Good. The hotel has a spa. I've booked it for tonight. Just the two of us…" Sally blinked seductively at Lightning.

"What about Blaze?"

"Craig and Elinor have agreed to babysit him tonight."

Lightning gave Sally a thankful kiss. "You always know how to make me feel better when I've had a bad day. Let's go." He focused his eyes on Blaze, who blinked back at him. "Come on, trouble. You're spending the night with your doting grandparents. And I wish them every amount of luck keeping you out of mischief!"


	22. Chapter 22 - Lightning's Illness

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 22 – Lightning's Illness

 **Triple Eight Race Engineering Headquarters, Banyo, 13kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Wednesday, 27** **th** **April, 2016.**

"All right, everyone," Dutto began as he put down his headset. "That's enough practice for this morning. You can go and have lunch, but remember to be back here by two o'clock."

"Tomorrow?" Jamie teased. He was rewarded with a gentle slap on the roof from the forklift.

Craig sighed when he saw how despondent Lightning looked. "I hope you're not still upset about what happened at Phillip Island?"

"What? No, not really. It's just… I seem to be going backwards with my racing instead of forwards…"

"How so?"

"Well, I was hoping I would've at least won a race by now, and I haven't. I just seem to be getting worse and worse."

"Well, at least you're being consistent about it," Jamie quipped, earning another slap, this time from Craig.

"Ow!"

"I don't care what sort of mood you're in, mate, but don't say anything if you can't say something nice," Craig scolded.

"Here, here!" Shane added.

Craig suddenly noticed that Lightning had turned rather pale. "Lightning? Are you feeling okay?"

"No… I'm having trouble seeing… I think I'd better go and see Doctor Andrews."

"Yes, I think you'd better!" Craig agreed. "Would you like me to help you there?"

"No thanks… I think I'll be okay. The last time I felt like this, I'd only overheated."

"Overheating is a serious issue, especially for a race car," Shane pointed out. "You should let one of us help you."

"I'm sure I'll be okay by myself..." Lightning insisted as he drove slowly down the ramp

Lightning was trembling and panting by the time he entered Dr Andrew's office a few minutes later. The doctor had been typing away on his computer, but he looked up when Lightning entered the room.

"Lightning? Are you okay?"

"No…" Lightning whimpered. "I think I'm overheating…"

Dr Andrews placed a tyre against Lightning's side. "You are a bit hot. Do you feel nauseas at all?"

"A bit… I am really thirsty though… And… I can't see properly…"

"Come over to this mat over here, and I'll take a look at you."

As soon as Lightning was on the mat, he completely collapsed, and he came very close to fainting. He simply had no energy left.

"Were you feeling okay during training?" Dr Andrews asked as he covered his tyres in latex.

"Yeah!" Lightning replied weakly. "I just started feeling strange as soon as I rolled off the rolling road."

"What did you do today during training?"

"Three hundred kilometres at two hundred and fifty kilometres an hour."

"That shouldn't be an issue for you. I'm just going to listen to your engine and your lungs, okay?"

Lightning didn't even have the strength to nod. Dr Andrews set about examining him. What he found concerned him. He went through the list of symptoms in his head.

 _Sudden collapse and complete exhaustion… RPMs are sky-high… Fever… Breathing is shallow and rapid… It's almost as though he's just been in an endurance race! I'd better take some fuel and oil samples…_

After about ten minutes, he realised that Lightning had fallen asleep.

 _It's probably best,_ he thought as he removed the latex from his tyres. _I'd better let Dutto know what's going on._

A few minutes later, Dutto entered the office. "Right, what's going on with Lightning?" he asked quietly.

"Lightning has suddenly come down with an unknown illness. I'm running some tests on him now to see if I can diagnose exactly what it is."

"He was perfectly fine this morning. What do you think he has?"

"I've narrowed it down to two options. He either has heat stroke, or he has fuel poisoning. Before you ask, I'm leaning towards fuel poisoning."

At that moment, Lightning began breathing heavily in an agitated manner. Dr Andrews hurried over to him.

"Lightning? It's okay. Calm down and focus on taking deep breaths."

"I have to do…something…" Lightning whispered. "There's something I need to do, but I can't…remember what it was…"

"Lightning, listen to me. Everything's okay. Just try and go back to sleep."

Blinking, Lightning shook his front. "I can't see! I can't see anything now!"

"Lightning, stop panicking and listen. You need to settle down and go back to sleep."

"Why can't I see?

"You're sick, and you need to rest."

"No!" Lightning shouted, but then he started hyperventilating. "I'm gonna throw up!"

Dr Andrews quickly slid a tray under Lightning's mouth. The race car tried to throw up, but only a bit of water and oil came out of his mouth. After a moment, Lightning collapsed back down onto his mat.

"Are you done?" Dr Andrews asked him kindly.

"Uh, huh," Lightning nodded weakly. After Dr Andrews had removed the soiled tray, he covered Lightning with a warm blanket.

Dutto sighed heavily. "Will he be okay now?"

"It's hard to say. Delirium is a sign that the illness has infected his brain. He could get worse or better within the next twenty-four hours. If he does get any worse, I'll have him transferred to hospital. He'll have to stay here in the meantime. I'll phone Sally to let her know what's happened."

"Are you sure you want to stay here all night? Wouldn't he be better off in hospital? I mean, since it's come on so quickly…"

"Look, it's serious, but not life-threatening. I wouldn't keep him here if I didn't think I could manage it."

"No, of course not," Dutto muttered. "I just hope I didn't cause this."

"Of course you didn't! From what Lightning told me, the training he did this morning didn't cause this, although it might have contributed. If it is fuel poisoning, I need to find out where he last filled up his tank."

"Well, one thing's for sure. Lightning isn't about to tell us anytime soon…"

They both looked at Lightning, who had almost fallen asleep again. The race car muttered something incoherent before he finally nodded off.

…

"Come on, Blaze!" Sally begged her son. "Open up! You need to drink all of your baby oil so you can grow up big and strong like your daddy."

"Baba!" Blaze babbled. He slapped the bottle of baby oil away from his mouth with his tyre. Sally rolled her eyes.

"Gracie! Blaze is refusing to eat again."

"Have you tried a bit of honey?" Gracie suggested as she drove into the room. "That always worked with Lightning whenever he refused to eat."

"No wonder he's got a sweet tooth! Could you stay with Blaze please, while I go and fetch some from the kitchen?"

"Sure."

Sally entered the kitchen just as her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Sally? It's Doctor Andrews here."

Sally groaned inwardly. "What's Lightning done to himself now?"

"Uh…it's not an injury… He's sick with suspected fuel poisoning."

"Fuel poisoning!" Sally exclaimed, shocked. "How? How bad is he?"

"Bad enough for me to insist that he stays here overnight so I can monitor him, but not bad enough for him to go to hospital. Yet. Craig and Elinor will be staying here to help me."

"I'm coming too! Don't imagine for a moment that you can keep me away!" Sally said fiercely.

"What about Blaze?"

"Gracie will look after him. I'll be there within an hour!"

"Very well then. I'll see you soon."

Sally exhaled deeply as she hung up her phone. Snatching up the honey jar, she returned upstairs to the nursery.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," she told Gracie. "Lightning's sick. I'll be at the team's headquarters if you need me for anything. I'm spending the night there."

"That's okay. Off you go. Blaze and I will make some cookies later."

Nodding, Sally gave Blaze a quick kiss before she dashed out of the room.

"Mamma!" Blaze called after her. He tried to follow her, but since he couldn't use his engine yet, he didn't get very far. Gracie gently picked him up into her forklift arms.

"Mummy has to go to see daddy at work," she explained to the baby sport's car.

"No!" Blaze screamed in protest as he wriggled around in Gracie's arms. Gracie quickly put him back down.

"Chrysler, you're strong! Thank goodness you don't have Jaguar Syndrome like your father! You'd be driving up the walls if you did."

Blaze ignored her. Instead, he crawled over to where his bottle of baby oil was sitting on the floor, and he began suckling from the teat. Sighing heavily, Gracie held up her arms in defeat.

"Over thirty years' experience in childcare, and I still don't understand babies!"

…

Sally, Craig, Elinor and Dr Andrews spent the rest of the day and all night monitoring Lightning's condition. Shane and Jamie had wanted to stay as well, but Dr Andrews wouldn't let them. Lightning slept the whole time, even when Dr Andrews examined him every two hours. Finally, late the following morning, Lightning began to stir.

"How are you feeling, Stickers?" Sally asked him kindly.

"Sal?" Lightning whispered through his daze.

"Good, he's recognised you," Dr Andrews muttered. "Keep talking to him. See if you can wake him up fully."

"Yes, it's me, Stickers. How are you feeling now?"

"Weak…" Lightning replied, breathing heavily. He cautiously blinked open his eyes. After a few seconds, he breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Thank Chrysler, I can see again!"

"Let me take a look," Dr Andrews said. After he'd mounted a small torch to his roof, he turned it on. "Okay, I want you to focus on the chart on the wall right behind me."

Lightning did so, but it was unusually difficult for his to keep his focus. Realising this, Dr Andrews finished his examination quickly, before turning to address the others.

"The problem with the type of fuel poisoning he's had, is that there can often be lingering side-effects that can hang around for months; maybe even years. Unfortunately, I can't say what those side-effects will be, but at the moment, it appears as though his eyesight has been affected."

"Will that affect his racing?" Craig asked fearfully.

Dr Andrews hesitated before answering. "I can't tell at this stage, I'm sorry. What Lightning needs more than anything right now is plenty of rest. Sally, I'd prefer it if he stays here while he recovers. It'll be far quieter for him than at home."

"Don't be so sure about that," Craig scoffed. "Jamie and Shane are really getting competitive these days. I'm sure the sound of their engines upstairs will penetrate these sound-proof walls!"

"Nevertheless, it'll be far quieter here than at his place with a one-month-old baby," Elinor pointed out. Craig had to agree.

"How did I get fuel poisoning?" Lightning asked quietly.

"That's what we want to know," Dr Andrews said. "Where did you fill up your fuel tank yesterday?"

Lightning told him.

"Thanks. I'll follow that up. Obviously, you must have been running on the bad fuel during your training session yesterday, and because you were putting all of your energy into that, your brain didn't realise that the fuel was bad until it was too late for you to throw it up."

Lightning groaned in disbelief. "And that's why I couldn't really throw up yesterday when I needed to, right?"

"Exactly. You had nothing left in your tank to throw up. You'd used all of your fuel during training."

Lightning sighed tiredly. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Yes. You can sleep as much as you want," Dr Andrews assured him. "You'll recover faster that way."

Lightning promptly closed his eyes again. He'd do anything to recover faster.


	23. Chapter 23 - The Perth Supersprint

**Disclaimer: All recognisable character belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 23 – The Perth Supersprint

 **Barbagallo Racewa** **y** **,** **Wanneroo** **, 50kms north of Perth, Western Australia – Saturday, May 7, 2016.**

"Doctor Lee? I'm worried about Lightning," Leyland confessed to the V8 Supercars doctor inside the first aid room.

"Why? I've cleared him to race this weekend. I know he's still tired, and that will show in his results, but there's no reason why he can't compete for points. Just, don't push him this weekend, okay?"

Leyland frowned. "I confess; I was hoping you'd say that he can't race. I don't want him to have a relapse or something."

"Why are you so concerned about him? Doctor Andrews isn't, and neither am I."

"He's just… He's missing that spark he's had."

Dr Lee scoffed. "I would too if I'd just been through what he's been through. Fuel poisoning isn't something you can recover from overnight. He only had it a week and a half ago, so don't expect miracles from him this weekend."

"I'm not. I just can't help but worry about my racers when they've been sick."

"How's his appetite now?"

"Pretty much normal."

"Is he getting enough sleep?"

"More than enough."

"Then, you really mustn't worry about him. I saw his times in practice yesterday, and he's doing well for a racer who's only just recovered from fuel poisoning. Make sure you give him the encouragement he needs to finish each race, so he can get the points. And don't worry about the media harassing him either. I've given orders for at least two security guards to keep an eye on him at all times. If the media start hounding him, they'd better watch out!"

"Lightning won't like that, but I suppose it's for the best," Leyland said, sighing. "I'd better get back to the team. Thank you for your help."

"Just doing my job. Listen, if you're really that worried about Lightning, I can examine him again before this afternoon's race."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I'd like to see how he goes in qualifying first. I don't want to stress him out unnecessarily."

"And I don't want you to stress out worrying about him."

Leyland chuckled. "I'll remember that. Thanks for your help, doctor."

…

Lightning frowned with concern when he saw the dark clouds gathering outside the pits. Beside him, Craig was having his slick racing tyres bolted on for qualifying.

"I think I'd rather have wet tyres put on," Lightning muttered.

"Leyland's hoping we'll get at least two laps in before it starts raining," Tony said, coming over. He looked sternly at Lightning. "I'm only going to let you do three laps, so make sure they're good ones. I want you to save as much energy as possible for the race."

Lightning nodded in understanding. "I'll do my best, Tony."

An air horn sounded outside, signalling that the pit lane exit was now open. Jamie bravely drove out onto the track, followed by Shane, Craig and then Lightning. The rest of the field of racers fell into line behind them.

Knowing that he only had three laps to post a solid time, Lightning decided to push himself hard on his first lap. Just as Lightning went around turn one, the heavens opened.

 _Stay focused. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. Just focus on the track._

Lightning's strategy worked. Less than a minute later, he crossed over the finish line, posting a solid time of 59.626. It was nowhere near the lap record, but it was enough to please Lightning. He was just settling down for the next lap, when Tony jumped on the radio.

"Red flag, Lightning. The session has been red-flagged because of the rain. All racers are required to pit."

 _Well, I tried_ , Lightning thought as he sighed deeply. Up ahead of him, he could see his teammates getting the same message from their crew chiefs. They looked somewhat relieved by the news. Tony jumped on the radio again.

"Hey, Speedster! Guess what?"

"What?" Lightning asked tiredly.

"You've won pole position!"

"WHAT?" Lightning exclaimed.

"You posted the fastest time! You're on pole!"

Lightning whimpered in disbelief. When he reached pit lane, the marshals ushered him over to the pole position presentation area. Tony, Dutto and Leyland were already there waiting for him, along with the media.

"McQueen, how do you feel about getting your first pole position in the V8 Supercars?" a reporter asked.

Lightning was too shocked to reply. All he could do was grin from fender to fender. An official presented him with an oversized cheque for $1,000. Then the media began snapping pictures of Lightning with his team.

After all the photos had been taken, Lightning made his way back to the pit garage he shared with Craig in a daze. "I can't believe I won pole!" he said to Craig. "I think I'll buy Sally some perfume with this money, and I might spoil Blaze a bit by getting him some new toys. He'll love that." His stepfather smiled proudly at him.

"I knew you'd do it one day. You'll win a race next."

Lightning's smile faded slightly. "I don't think it'll be this weekend."

Craig hugged him fondly. "I know, but it will happen one day soon. You've already learned so much in such a short period of time, so don't get stressed out about it."

"I won't."

Leyland drove over to them. "How are you feeling, Lightning?"

"A bit tired," Lightning replied honestly. "But that's probably more because I'm a bit overwhelmed by getting on pole. It's been ages since I last had a pole position!"

Leyland hesitated. Lightning noticed this.

"What? What's wrong, Leyland?"

"Nothing. I'm just debating if I should send you to see Doctor Lee again. Just to be sure."

"Oh. Do you think I should?"

"No. But I would like you to go and rest somewhere quiet and warm until the race. The transporter should be adequate. Craig can bring you some lunch."

"Okay," Lightning agreed. "And thanks. I know you're just trying to look after me, Leyland. By the way, I've noticed the security guards following me. I know what they're doing, but could you please tell them to be a bit more inconspicuous? I don't want the media to know that I've had bodyguards assigned to me. It'll only upset Sally."

"Uh… Sure, I'll do that," Leyland agreed, faltering. "Doctor Lee assigned them to you, to make sure the media don't bother you this weekend."

"Well, now they're the ones bothering me."

Leyland shook his front in disbelief as Lightning drove away towards the transporters. _Damn it! He never misses a thing, does he?_

…

The rain cleared up shortly before the race started. Lightning began the race well, but the effects of his recent illness soon caught up with him, and on lap two out of fifty, he began fading back through the field. He managed to hang onto third place until lap 35, but the race distance took a toll on him, and he dropped back rapidly after that. Craig, Jamie and Shane each gave him sympathetic glances as they overtook him. The three of them ended up getting the Redbulldozer team's first official podium lockout, with Craig winning, followed by Shane and then Jamie. Poor Lightning ended up finishing the race in 14th, which was a respectable result, considering how exhausted he was afterwards. Tony was the first to talk to him afterwards in the pits.

"Hey, you did a great job out there! Well done!"

"Thanks," Lightning panted. "I did everything I could…"

"I know. By the way, you've officially finished in thirteenth. Pye has been penalised, so he's dropped back in the field. Take some deep breaths. Would you like some oxygen?"

Lightning nodded. Dr Andrews fitted the oxygen mask over Lightning's mouth, and the race car began to breath it in deeply. After about five minutes, Lightning's breathing had almost returned to normal.

"It will take him longer to recover from this race than usual," Dr Andrews explained to Tony. "Do you have his protein drink handy?"

Tony placed it in front of Lightning. As soon as Dr Andrews removed the oxygen mask, Lightning began gulping down the drink. He was shivering once he'd finished.

"Let's get you inside so you can warm up," Dr Andrews offered, and he draped a towel over Lightning's roof. He began to escort Lightning out of the pits, when they were confronted by a huge media pack.

"Lightning, what happened to you today?"

"You could've won the race! Why didn't you?"

"Are you slowing down as you get older?"

"Where are Sally and Blaze?"

Overwhelmed, Lightning tried to turn back into the pit garage, but Dr Andrews gently pushed him towards the closest transporter.

"Don't say anything," he whispered. "Just keep pushing your way forwards…"

Closing his eyes, Lightning did so. After a moment, he felt his tyres touch the ramp of the transporter, and once he'd opened his eyes again, he accelerated inside. Dr Andrews followed him. He was already on his phone, calling security.

"I wish we could just ban the media from the pits," Lightning sighed.

"Never mind about them now," Dr Andrews comforted. "Let's get you settled down now, so you can have a nap."

"Can I call Sally first?" Lightning asked as he parked himself on a mat in the corner.

"Five minutes only. Then I want you to rest. I'll get Doctor Lee to come and look at you now, if he isn't busy."

Lightning dialled Sally's number. She answered after the second ring.

" _Stickers! Congratulations! You did really well, considering how sick you were last week_."

"Thanks, Sal. Normally, I'd be disappointed to come in thirteenth, but I guess it's good when you look at it that way."

" _Where are you now_?"

"Inside one of the transporters. I'm under doctor's orders to rest. That race took a lot out of me."

" _You held on strongly until the last few laps. You should get a win soon if you can race like that when you're not a hundred percent. I saw some of your old racing style today. You may have learned a lot by coming to Australia, but don't forget what you've already learned._ "

Lightning sniffled back some tears. "That sounded like something Doc would've said."

" _He was a wise car. He'd be so proud of your efforts today. But you must listen to your doctors. If they tell you not to push yourself beyond your strength, do what they say. For me, and for Blaze_."

Tears were now falling freely from Lightning's eyes. "Thank you, Sal. I needed to hear that. Is Blaze with you?"

" _Yes. He raced his toy cars around the lounge room while he was watching you race. The navy car won. He says it's you_."

Lightning had to chuckle. "Can I talk to him for a moment, please?"

" _Sure. Blaze? Daddy wants to say hello_."

There was a bit of clattering as Sally passed over the phone to Blaze. " _Bubba?_ "

"Hey there, Blaze. I hear that you had your own car race while you were watching me race."

" _Mmhmm_."

"Who won?"

" _Bubba!_ " Blaze said some more baby babble, which Lightning couldn't understand, but he pretended to know exactly what his son was saying.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the race," Lightning finally said. "Can I talk to mummy again, please?"

" _Mama!_ " Blaze shouted, making Lightning cringe. Sally quickly took the phone back.

" _Sorry. Blaze has recently discovered his outdoor voice. I'd better let you go. Take care of yourself._ "

"I will. Love you."

" _I love you too_."

Lightning sighed as he hung up the phone. "I'm ready to sleep now, Doctor Andrews."

"Good. Here's another blanket. Doctor Lee is on his way."

Nodding, Lightning closed his eyes and he settled down to sleep. He didn't stir for several hours, even when Dr Lee examined him.

"He can race again tomorrow," Dr Lee whispered to Dr Andrews once he'd finished his exam. "As I've been saying all weekend, don't push him."

"We won't," Dr Andrews promised.

…

They didn't. Lightning finished the 83 lap race the next day in 26th place – dead last. He simply had no energy left to race, so he made sure he crossed the finish line to claim a measly 27 points. Craig and Shane came 3rd and 4th respectively, while Jamie finished in 11th. For once, Lightning wasn't disappointed. He'd done the very best he could do, given the circumstances, and that was all anyone could've asked of him.

 **Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me a while to update. I've been taking a bit of a break from writing FanFiction so I can focus on writing some of my novels. Thank you to those of you who left a review for my last chapter. They were greatly appreciated.**


	24. Chapter 24 - Lightning's Decision

**Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Pixar. All OCs belong to me.**

Chapter 24 – Lightning's Decision

 **Triple Eight Race Engineering Headquarters, Banyo, 13kms north of Brisbane, Queensland – Tuesday, July 12, 2016**

3 months later

"All right, Mater," Lightning said into his phone as he paced around outside the Redbulldozer team headquarters. Nearly everyone else was inside unpacking from their weekend race meeting in Townsville, but Lightning had decided to use the quiet time to phone Mater. He really needed his best friend's advice. "I'll think about what you've just said, but Sally and I have pretty much made up our minds on this."

" _Ah, shoot!_ " Mater sounded genuinely disappointed. " _Wells, I ah suppose you an' Miss Sally knows what's best for ya. How's wittle Blaze?_ "

Lightning smiled. "He's going great! Full of mischief, just like you! He can't wait to meet his 'uncle Mater'."

" _Aww! I can't wait ta see 'im either!_ "

"You're all still coming to watch Bathurst this year, aren't you?"

" _Yup! We's wouldn't wanna miss it! It's gonna be somethin'!_ "

Hearing someone tap on an upstairs window, Lightning looked up. Dutto was staring down at him. Seeing that he now had Lightning's attention, Dutto beckoned for him to come upstairs. "Sorry, Mater, but I'm going to have to go now. I'm being summoned."

" _Darn it! Okay den bud! Talk ta ya again soon!_ "

"Yeah. Bye Mater." Lightning reluctantly hung up his phone, and he drove inside. Dutto met him at the top of the ramp.

"I'm starting practice now," he said. "Where's Craig?"

Lightning shrugged his fenders. "Stuck in traffic again, probably. I'm surprised he doesn't get asked for autographs on his way to work!"

Dutto rolled his eyes. "Hop it!"

"I will in a moment. I just have to see Leyland about something first."

"Make it snappy, then."

Lightning hurried away towards Leyland's office. Unusually, the door was wide open, but Lightning knocked anyway.

"Come in," Leyland said. He was parked at his desk, typing away on his computer. He paused when he saw Lightning. "Ah! Lightning… My air conditioner's being repaired, which is why I've got the door open today. Have you recovered from Townsville yet?"

"I think so. Getting sixth in race two was good. Just disappointed to finish sixteenth in race one. I know I can do much better than that."

Leyland smiled sadly. "You're too hard on yourself, Lightning. You now know just how tough the V8 Supercars are. I've owned this team for ten years now, and as I keep telling you, in time, you'll become unstoppable."

Lightning looked sadly down at the desk in front of him. "Perhaps, but…" Turning, he closed the open door. "Leyland, I've been thinking about this a lot over the past few weeks, and I've come to tell you that I've decided not to renew my contract with you for next year."

Leyland nodded slowly. "I see. Can you tell me why?"

"There are many reasons. The main ones are that, Sally and I want to raise Blaze as an American, and I want to return to the Piston Cup. Sally and I are planning to come back here a lot though, so we won't be selling the house. Uh… I was also hoping to have first refusal to be Craig's co-racer for the Enduro Cup next year, please?"

"I was just about to ask you if you'd consider that, but only if Craig agrees," Leyland said seriously. "He might be your stepfather, but he's also a racer, and he needs to have someone reliable as his co-racer."

"You don't have to tell me that! I've been on the receiving end of his 'racing'."

Leyland sighed. "What I meant was that, Craig has his own racing career to think about. He will only choose the best co-racer he can get."

Lightning exhaled deeply. "I know. I'll also need your permission to go back to the States soon, so I can sort out everything with the Piston Cup. Actually, I'm really looking forward to getting back into it."

"Really?" Leyland said sceptically. "You're looking forward to driving around and around in circles again?"

Lightning shrugged. There was awkward silence between them for a moment, but then Lightning spoke again. "Guess I'd better get to the training room now, before Dutto comes in here, looking for me."

"All right. We'll talk more about this over lunch."

Once Lightning had left Leyland's office, he paused on the mezzanine to think for a moment. It was obvious that Leyland didn't want him to leave the team, which made Lightning wonder if he was really making the right decision. He was distracted a moment later by Craig's abrupt arrival.

"Craig! Lightning! Training room, now!" Dutto ordered.

Panting heavily, Craig followed Lightning inside the training room, where Jamie and Shane were already waiting.

"Sorry I'm late," Craig apologised to Dutto. "There was an accident near the Gateway (motorway) merge, and the traffic was backed up for two kilometres."

"Condition: normal," Dutto muttered. "All right, everyone. I want you all to do two hundred kilometres at whatever speed you feel comfortable at."

The four racers promptly got onto their respective rolling roads.

…

At lunchtime, Lightning had just collected his tray of food and fuel from the cafeteria, and he was about to join his teammates, when Leyland motioned for him to join him at his table. Reluctantly, Lightning parked at the table opposite his boss. Leyland eyed Lightning's full tray.

"Dutto worked you hard today, did he?" he asked.

Lightning nodded. "His idea of 'two hundred Ks at our own pace' was more like, 'do it at your top speed'."

Leyland chuckled. "I know Dutto's a hard taskmaster, which is why I appointed him as team manager. He knows how to get the best out of a racer."

"Except on race day…" Lightning muttered despondently.

Leyland raised an eyelid in surprise. "I wasn't supposed to hear that, was I? Listen, Lightning, I've been trying to tell you all year that your race results are better than average for someone in their first full-time year in the V8 Supercars. You really mustn't be so hard on yourself."

"I'm eighteenth in the Championship!" Lightning exclaimed, finally venting his pent-up frustrations. Everyone in the cafeteria promptly stopped what they were doing to watch and listen. Leyland cleared his throat.

"Bring your lunch with you, Lightning," he ordered quietly. "We'll discuss this in Dutto's office, since he's still got a working air conditioner."

Once Leyland and Lightning were alone, Leyland told Lightning to continue with his rant.

"I didn't mean to raise my voice downstairs," Lightning sighed. "But I've never been in such a bad place in a Championship before. Crumbs, I don't think I've even _started_ from that position before!"

"And, is this why you want to go back to the Piston Cup?"

"That is the main reason, yes. But as I said before, I want to raise Blaze as an American. I think we'll all end up having dual-citizenship though, but for now, I want Blaze to grow up in my home country."

Leyland nodded in understanding. "So, you're leaving for emotional reasons then?"

"I guess," Lightning shrugged. He pushed his food tray aside. He'd lost his appetite.

"And, which team will you be on when you return to the Piston Cup?"

"I don't know! I haven't thought that far ahead yet. But, I do need to go back there soon, so I can get everything sorted out. I should only need a week."

"So, you want to move back to America, return to the Piston Cup, and you expect to just pick up right from where you left off?"

Lightning hesitated, remembering how he hadn't even been able to finish his last race in the Piston Cup eight months earlier. "Sally's homesick too," he whispered. "We made this decision together. But I don't see how I could do any worse than I am now."

"I think you need to discuss this with Craig and your mother, before you come to me with your final decision."

Lightning shook his front. "I won't change my mind. But you're right. I do need a sponsor before I can race in the Piston Cup again."

Leyland exhaled deeply. "You don't think Rust-Eze will take you back then?"

"No. They've got a rookie racing with them this year. I'd imagine they'll want to keep him on. I'd also feel bad if I pushed him out."

"In that case, let me handle your sponsorship if you do decide to leave. I have many friends in high places. When would you like to go back to the States to get everything sorted out?"

"As soon as possible, so we can get all of the paperwork out of the way."

"In that case, I think you should plan to go straight after Ipswich. You won't have enough time before then."

"Okay," Lightning agreed. "I really hate making decisions like this though. I didn't want to let you down and-"

"Lightning. You haven't let me down at all. You have committed a hundred percent to every single race this year, but things just haven't gone your way sometimes. That happens to all racers at some point in their careers. Look at what happened to Craig in Auckland last year. He was winning, but then his tyre delaminated, leaving him with a DNF. Don't forget, you won the Development Series last year, and you've won Bathurst twice! I can promise you, there aren't too many racers in the world who can claim that!"

Lightning smiled slightly. "Really?"

"Absolutely! You need to stop focusing on the negative things, and start focusing on the positive. You have a lovely wife, and a smart, intelligent son. Not to mention a racing legend for your step-father!"

Lightning kicked himself inwardly. Leyland was right. He had been focusing on the negatives, and not on the positives. "Thank you for reminding me of that, Leyland. You're right, of course. And, I'll hold off on my decision about the contract until after Ipswich, okay?"

"That sounds fine to me, speedster. Take that holiday to the States anyway. You sound as if you desperately need it."

"You have no idea," Lightning replied with a small groan. _You really have no idea…_

 **Hi everyone! I'm so, so sorry I've taken so long to update. I got writer's block, and so I decided to take a break from writing this story to work on others. Please forgive me for taking so long! I hope this chapter makes up for it. Thank you for your patience!**


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